Dik
by fika1603
Summary: Seto had always promised himself to protect Mokuba. What happens when he was the one who put Mokuba's life at stake without him knowing it? Sequel to Blood Brothers, but this fic can be read on its own. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! i couldn't stop the itch to write. anyway, just for clarification. Dik is short for Adik which means little brother/sister in Malay. i was listening to the song Dik by Indonesian band Wali when i suddenly got the idea for this fic. so naturally, i just had to include their lyrics, but i've translated it into english to make it easier for everyone to understand. (each chapter is represented by a verse/chorus of the song) anw, as explained in the summary, this is a filler to the Seto In Black that Seto saw in his dream in Blood Brothers. so in a way, this is Seto In Black's way of retelling what actually happened. enjoy(:**

**p/s: read and review yea!**

**love, fika1603**

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_**Dik, I hope that you'll always be loyal**_

_**Dik, I plead that you'll always be there for me**_

_**Through the times when I'm hurt**_

_**Through the times when I'm sad**_

**_- Dik by Wali Band_**

The door to the study room swung open silently. At the door, Mokuba Kaiba folded his arms and shook his head in disbelief. He promptly walked up to Seto who was slouched over his desk with files and papers strewn all over and shouted into his brother's ear, "Boo!"

Seto awoke with a start and almost fell over his chair. When he caught sight of Mokuba grinning cheekily beside him, he sighed defeatedly. "Don't give me a heart attack first thing in the morning, Mokuba."

He proceeded to rise from his seat, but just as he stood, he fell back down onto his chair again. Seto tried to shake his head to clear the dizziness, but it felt so heavy, all he wanted was to lay his head back on the table and sleep. He barely noticed Mokuba's frantic touch on his forehead.

"Big Brother, you're having a fever!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mokuba," Seto retorted incredulously. "I feel fine. I'm just having a bad headache, that's all."

This time round, he forced himself to stand up, his hands gripping the edge of his desk for support. There was always a time and place for everything. Right now, fever should be the last thing to occur on a day when he has a whole stretch of meetings. He barely walked two steps when he felt his knees go weak. Inwardly, he cursed himself. What was wrong with him now?

"I told you you're having a fever, Seto," Mokuba had put on his rare stern voice. Seto let himself be dragged by the smaller boy out of the study and into his room. He wanted to argue and object that there was nothing to be worried about, but everything around him was spinning at whirlpool speed. By the time he felt his body being pushed onto his bed, everything went white, then black.

XO XO XO XO

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a dark-haired middle-aged man peering at him. Upon seeing him conscious, the man pushed back his glasses and smiled kindly. However, he spoke not to Seto, but to Mokuba who was standing anxiously beside Seto's bed. He patted Mokuba's arm reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Mokuba," the man threw yet another smile at Seto. "Your brother's alright. He's just overworked. Has he been taxing himself out a lot lately?"

"How about everyday?" Mokuba mumbled. But he spoke out loud to the doctor, "I guess so, Dr Matsuda. I mean, Seto was overseeing both things at the office and the renovations at home."

"This means I'm fine, isn't it?" Seto cut in acidly. He attempted to throw the covers aside and get going. He wondered how much paperwork was awaiting him at the office.

"Not so fast, Mr Kaiba," the doctor finally addressed him directly. "You've been pushing your fatigue back for a long time, and right now your body is telling you to stop forcing yourself to work and go get a lot of rest." Seto opened his mouth to argue, but the doctor cold stare stopped him. "You're on mandatory medical leave for at least a week, Mr Kaiba. Mokuba, make sure your brother adheres to my orders."

Mokuba thanked the doctor and offered to walk him out to the front door, but the doctor assured him that he would be fine on his own. Closing the door after the doctor, Mokuba turned to look at Seto triumphantly. Finally, his brother was banned from work!

Seto recognised the glint in Mokuba's eyes and snorted. "Don't expect me to follow what he said." He glanced over at his bedside digital clock. "Did anybody from the office call me?"

Mokuba looked skywards and let out a huge sigh. "I told them you won't be coming into office for a few days."

"You what?! Mokuba, I have 5 important meetings lined up today itself, including a board meeting!"

"You're staying put, Big Brother!" Mokuba shouted back. Seto stared blankly at him. Mokuba took the chance to quickly force his brother to down his pills.

Even then, his brother tried to object, "What –"

"You're going to eat your medicine, and you're going to sleep," Mokuba announced stubbornly. As if to prove his point, he practically used up all his strength to push Seto back onto the bed and pull the covers up.

"Mokuba, I can't not work!" Seto was still indignant, but apparently the medicine was slowly latching into effect. Seto didn't sound as loud as before.

"Yes, you can! Work on going to sleep!" In actuality, Seto was proud to see his little brother placing such high importance on the issue of health. At least somebody in the house was health-conscious.

The black-haired boy's gaze ticked to the calendar on Seto's bedside. There was something odd about the dates. He picked it up and flicked through the pages. It was the same for other months. Suddenly, Mokuba recalled that he saw the same thing being done to Seto's calendars a few years back. The first one when Seto started blanking out dates was after Yugi defeated him. He cast a glance at his big brother. Any moment now and he would be drifting off to lalaland.

"Uh, Seto, can I ask you something?" Mokuba scrambled over to sit beside Seto on his bed. He held out the calendar in front of his brother. "How come some dates are missing? Like they're blanked out?"

Seto stifled a yawn. "There are days which I'd rather forget. Mokuba, what is that medicine all about?"

Mokuba bit back a laugh as he witnessed Seto losing his battle with sleep. Once he was certain his brother was not by any chance awake, he slid off the bed and quietly placed the calendar back on the bedside.

_Don't worry, Seto. I know why these dates are deleted. But I'll always be there for you, no matter what. I know when you're sad even if you never show it._

"I love you, Big Brother." Mokuba leaned in to give his sleeping brother a quick hug. With that hug, he wished comfort for Seto for the darkest moments in his life: his defeats to Yugi, the countless times when they were close to losing each other, and above it all, for the numerous sacrifices Seto had done for him.

In his sleep, Seto grunted as if appreciating his brother's hug. Mokuba chuckled silently. The only time when Seto appeared to be a normal human being was when he was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: new chap! whoo! the first chapter was more of something to get the ball rolling, but the story starts proper here. but the first chapter still has some relevance to the fact that Seto hasn't learned to slow things down. anyway, i hope you guys enjoy this one (:**

**

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**[Chorus]**

**I'll always care for you**

**When you're awake and asleep**

**In all your dreams and reality**

**I'll always protect you**

**With my life and death**

**Never, I never want you to fall apart**

**- Dik by Wali Band**

Seto grabbed a freshly-ironed white jacket from his servant and hurried into his awaiting limo. The moment the black door closed behind him, he sneaked a peek at his reflection on the window and smoothed out his hair. He checked his watch and sighed. It was a wonder he managed to freshen up and change for the launching of KaibaCorp's new product in a span of fifteen minutes after rushing home from a draggy meeting that did not accomplish anything much.

_I hate meetings_, he grumbled inwardly as he pressed a button to load the built-in flat screen television. The television immediately switched on to Channel NewsAsia, the news channel that had probably been set to be the primary channel. Of course, Seto had a few more spare channels set for Mokuba's benefit. Let the kid have his TV shows.

"What time do you have to be at the Shangri-La, sir?" his driver asked him over his shoulders.

Seto kept his focus on the television screen, something that he rarely did. "7.30," he replied. "But I'd like to be there by 7.25."

The driver sounded surprised. "But sir, it's already 7.20."

"Then step on it," his employer replied rather curtly. "Don't worry about the speeding tickets. Just get me there on time."

"Yes, Mr Kaiba."

The news channel was based in Singapore, but covered news just as well as the more commercialised news channels, Seto figured it would be better to have it on the television set. Furthermore, it seemed to be able to give news accurately from an Asian context. All the more it served him well; he had plans to expand his Duel Disks empire to the rest of the continent. After that small step, then he could establish more KaibaLand theme parks in those countries.

But right now, he has to endure four hours worth of corporate mingling. He liked coming up with new products; he even liked the launching events because everyone present could see his creations in full force. What he did not particularly like was the post-launching party. On one hand, it was a great way to build up contacts. On the other hand, he could do much more things than socialising with a bunch of back-stabbing executives.

He played the upcoming scene in his mind. As usual, he would walk through the doors, the guests would applause and he would proceed onstage. He would activate his built-in Duel Disk watch that had the highest level of holographic technology that he knew. Cards no longer need to be in hard copy. Rather, a holographic menu would enable a duellist to select the cards that they want to use in their duel. Of course, those who preferred having a hard copy of the cards in their hand could still use them. They simply had to place it in a designated slot on the watch strap. But the main focus of the watch was not the holographic card archive system; it was the fact that the entire Duel Disk system could be incorporated into a watch. Just press the red button at the side and all the necessary components would click into place.

"Are you alright back there, Mr Kaiba?"

Seto frowned at his driver's sudden randomness. "Yes. Why shouldn't I be?"

His driver shook his head. "Nothing, Mr Kaiba. I was just wondering if this speed is too much for you, especially since it's raining quite heavily now."

In the backseat, Seto smirked. "I'll tell you when it's not alright. How far are we from the hotel?"

"I'm sure we'll be able to reach it in fi –"

Seto gripped the sides of the leather upholstery tightly as the limo braked to a sudden halt. A loud bang ensued. He tried to peer out of the heavily-tinted windows, but the downpour was making it difficult to see anything clearly. He checked his watch. So much for reaching there by his designated time. He frowned at his driver who seemed to be shell-shocked and cleared his throat loudly.

"Is there a problem?"

The driver craned his neck to meet his employer's eyes. His face was ashen. He stuttered, "M-Mr-Mr Kaiba, I think we might have ran over something."

"Thinking doesn't confirm anything," Seto was getting annoyed now. Any sense of calmness that he obtained during the ride had gone out of the window. "It's probably a road bump or a stray cat."

"But Mr Kaiba…"

"Move on, Roland. I'm late. To ease your worry, maybe you can reverse, direct this car over to the side and speed off."

His driver obliged. Seto shut his eyes and pressed a hand to his temple, heaving a deep sigh. Why were there a lot of things occurring today that hampered his efforts from making it a smooth day? He wondered for a moment if he was losing his edge, thanks to the compulsory medical leave last week.

_That's ridiculous,_ he reasoned out in the end_. I hate to admit it, but there's 'downs' in life as well. Maybe this is one of those 'down' days._

The news anchor was delivering breaking news: apparently there had been another armed robbery, this time the victim one of the country's bank bosses. Several of the servants in the house had resist, and the robbers did not have any qualms in putting a bullet through their chest. Police investigators had deduced that the culprits were serial robbers, having burgled four other houses belonging to corporate leaders in the country.

Seto flicked out his cell phone and pressed a number on the speed dial. He waited for a few moments as the other line rang. No answer. He tried again. Still no answer.

_Where's Mokuba?_ He could not prevent the worried thought from crossing his mind as he tried dialling his house.

"Good evening, Kaiba residence." Seto recognised the grandmotherly voice of his head servant, Nana Niko.

"Nana, is Mokuba at home?" Seto queried politely. Nana was perhaps one of his few employees that he regarded with the highest respect.

"I'm sorry, Mr Kaiba, but Mokuba hasn't returned yet. He's been out since morning with his friends. I believe they're your acquaintances as well. Mr Mutou, Mr Wheeler, Mr Taylor and Ms Gardner." The worry in Nana's voice was enough to fuel Seto's worry further. "He hasn't even called home the whole day, sir."

"Thank you, Nana. The moment Mokuba returns, please call me." Seto ended the conversation at the same time his limo pulled up at the hotel porch. He activated his cell phone's silent mode and pocketed it securely in the inner pocket of his jacket. His driver handed a small mirror over to him, and Seto quickly inspected himself. Satisfied that everything was in place, he placed the mirror on the seat next to him and reached to open the door of his limo. As if reading his move, the hotel's employee quickly held out the door for him.

Seto stepped out of the limo with his usual grace, nodding curtly at the group of reporters gathered at the steps. He ignored the flashes and sounds of camera bulbs going off as he proceeded towards hotel ballroom where the launching event was to take place. The moment the mahogany doors swung open and Seto Kaiba stepped in, whatever that he had pictured earlier in his limousine took place.

XO XO XO XO

Meanwhile, back on the slippery road where Seto Kaiba's limousine halted, a tall blond boy was frantically shaking a raven-haired teenager's shoulder in a bid for him to wake up. He blinked back the rain soaking his entire self as he yelled at a leggy brunette to call for an ambulance. A spiky-haired blond and a Mohawk brunette aided him in carrying the unconscious teenager into the shelter of a bus stop nearby.

A silver mobile phone lay on the street, forgotten despite ringing thrice.

XO XO XO XO

Seto made a last effort to smile for the cameras, posing with his activated Duel Disk Watch as if he was enjoying using it. The moment the last camera sound faded, Seto excused himself from the reporters to 'see to his guests'. Rather, he evaded both his reporters and guests completely as he headed for Roland who was standing guard at a far corner of the ballroom.

"Roland, I've been worrying for the whole time," it was not a confession; it was a statement. "See to it that security upgrading is done for both the mansion and the office. Physically and network-wise. Everything. The renovations done to the mansion might have altered the security system, but just to be on the safe side, upgrade everything."

Seto looked around for a while before adding in a low voice, "And can you please keep on contacting Mokuba? Direct his call to me if you get through."

Seto exchanged nods of agreement with his right-hand man before heading off to really see to his guests. He barely made it to the centre of the room before he was approached by a busty brunette in a Jean Paul Gaultier dress (this bit of information was known because she boasted to wear dresses only by that designer). Other male guests might find her exceptionally stunning. Seto did not deny that fact – but he also found her extremely pushy. Making it a point to keep his words short but civilised, he quickly untangled his arm from her grip before making his way to familiar business associates.

Unfortunately, the blonde kept on clinging to his arm, sidling up to his side almost immediately and using her charms to make the rest of the business associates at ease with her presence. Just as subtly as before, Seto pried her hand away. For a moment, he thought he was free when he managed to leave her talking with his business associates.

Seto felt his phone vibrating. Tugging at the lapel of his jacket, he thrusted his hand in to retrieve the phone. Just as he was about to answer the call, the silver phone was plucked from his grip. Seto stared crossly at the owner of the French manicured fingers that was dangling his phone in mid-air.

"Shouldn't you be entertaining your guests instead of answering calls?" Carolina Lobo teased in what was supposed to be a seductive voice. Seto found it less of seductive and more towards revolting.

"Miss Lobo, I'd appreciate it if you could hand the phone back to me now," Seto said evenly, looking straight at the blonde.

"I'll give it back to you, on one condition," Lobo said slyly, brushing her hair back against her bare shoulder. She leaned forward to whisper in Seto's ear, "If you dance with me."

Deep down, Seto felt like throttling the bimbo. However, he merely flashed her a smirk and took her by the waist as he whispered back, "If that pleases you."

He led her to the dance floor, and held her close to him, one hand around her waist, the other sneakily plucking his phone out of her grip whilst pretending to clasp her hand with his. The whole time, he maintained eye contact and forced his smile to stay on. Once he got hold of his cell phone, he pretended to peer over her shoulder and nodded.

"What is it, Seto?" Lobo asked as her free hand played with the strands of hair at the side of his face. Seto stifled a gag upon hearing her mention his name.

"I believe somebody wants to steal you for a dance," he said it smoothly with what he hoped was a flirtatious smile. "But to be fair to him, I'll let him borrow you."

"Really?" Lobo smiled widened. The moment she turned around to see nobody standing behind her offering his hand, Seto hastily snuck away to a far corner away from the music. If he ever wanted a girlfriend, he would never look at someone like Lobo.

He checked his cell phone and scrolled down to see his missed calls list. There were 4 calls from an unknown number. Wondering who it was to have persistently contacted him, Seto redialled the number and sighed impatiently as he waited for the other end to pick up.

"Kaiba Hospital. How may I help you?" the receptionist sounded bored.

_Hospital? Why is my hospital calling me out of the blue?_

"This is Seto Kaiba. I believe the hospital has contacted me 4 times within a span of ten minutes. Is anything the matter?" the way Seto said those words matched the receptionist's sentiment.

Suddenly the receptionist sounded more awake than a chipmunk, "Mr Kaiba! We tried calling you Mr Kaiba! Mr Kaiba, it's Mokuba!"

Seto wasted no time in dashing out of the ballroom, his call abruptly ended. He ran into Roland near the lobby area. Roland hurried over to him, most probably to tell him the recent news, but Seto cut him short by asking for the limousine keys. The reporters lounging nearby witnessed the young CEO abandoning his own event as he sped off into the night in his limo.

Within the next few minutes, the hotel lobby was completely devoid of reporters. The hotel porch was completely devoid of taxis, too.

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**There's a trace of irony with the song chorus and the storyline...**

**anw, stay tuned for the next chapter! will be written and hopefully uploaded soon (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: i re-edited this chapter quite a couple of times cos i think this is the crucial chapter in this fic (minus the fact that it did made me feel like crying when i was writing this out). but i tried to inject some humour into it to offset the heavy emotions.**

**hope you guys like it (:**

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**Dik, please don't leave me**

**Dik, I want to keep on loving you**

**Through the times when you're hurt**

**Through the times when you're sad**

**- Dik by Wali Band**

Joey paced back towards the front desk for the umpteenth time and demanded, "Have you contacted Kaiba yet?"

The nurse stammered, "Y-yes. But I never got the chance to tell him what happened."

"Arghh!" Joey sat down in a huff beside Tea and put his head in his hands. Raking his blond hair wildly, he let out another frustrated grunt. "When I get hold of that idiot Kaiba I'll-"

Just then there was a wild commotion at the entrance of the hospital. A tall, sharply-dressed man thundered through the hallway straight to the front desk, an unmistakable air of fury and anxiety around him. A hail of reporters barged through the same doors a few seconds afterwards. The man slammed his hands onto the front desk and bellowed, "Where's Mokuba?"

The nurse bolted out of her seat and tried her best to sound as calm as possible, "Mr Kaiba, your brother is in the operation theatre now. The doctors are trying their best to save him."

Her words had the opposite effect on Seto. He was enraged. "What do you mean operation theatre? What happened to him?"

"He got hit by a car, Kaiba," a familiar voice said bitterly from behind him. Seto whirled and noticed for the first time that the dorks were present at the hospital as well.

Seto ignored the speaker and turned to another blond. "Yugi, what's the meaning of all this? I can't trust you and your friends to even look out for my brother when he's out with you? So much for him regarding you geeks as friends."

Yugi looked up and attempted to sound as soothing as possible. His archrival/friend was not a very negotiable person when he was consumed by emotions. "Kaiba, hear us out. It was raining heavily, and we were all rushing for shelter. We barely got over to shelter when we heard a loud bang and…"

_M-Mr-Mr Kaiba, I think we might have ran over something._

Seto blanched. He looked straight at Yugi & Co. "I want details."

Tea was the first to burst out. "It was horrible, Kaiba. There was this large black car, and it just ran into Mokuba. He barely had time to react. The car stopped, and we thought the driver might come out to see what's wrong. But the car simply reversed, switched lanes and sped off." Tea was shaking her head furiously, sniffing back tears. "How could anyone be so heartless?"

_Move on, Roland. I'm late. To ease your worry, maybe you can reverse, direct this car over to the side and speed off._

_It's all a coincidence,_ Seto forced the idea to stick to his mind. _I didn't run over Mokuba. I would never do that. I would never hurt Mokuba._

In his stupor, the reporters had crowded around him, shouting out questions that went unanswered. Cameramen were having a field day photographing a shocked Seto Kaiba standing in the middle of the hospital. Even when the camera bulbs flashed endlessly in his face, the richest man in Domino City barely seemed to notice. Yugi and his friends braved the vultures called reporters and made an effort to get them to step back from Seto. Despite repeatedly being told to buzz off, the reporters insisted on their questions. By then, television journalists were already speaking of the latest news into their rolling cameras.

"Mr Kaiba, how do you feel? How confident are you that Mokuba will be alright? How could you let him off without security? Were you always this reckless? Did you expect this to happen?"

Seto whirled around and scanned the reporters sharply. "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO FEEL? BLOODY FINE? I WANT ALL OF YOU OUT OF MY HOSPITAL! NOW!"

The journalists shut up. News channel all over Japan showed an infuriated Seto Kaiba yelling at the group of meek reporters. Even the front desk nurse, Yugi and his friends were shocked into silence. Tea glanced around to see scared faces everywhere. Seto had his eyes tightly shut, his face directed towards the floor as he fumed. Nobody seemed to notice that the light in the operation theatre had gone off, and that the surgeons were flanking Mokuba's bed outside the theatre. Nobody except Tea, that is.

She took a deep breath and crept over to Seto, ignoring Joey's and Tristan's you-must-be-nuts expressions directed at her. She spoke just loud enough for Seto to hear, "Mokuba's out."

That seemed to catch the CEO's attention. His head snapped up and for once Tea noticed how frantic his eyes were when he caught sight of Mokuba on the hospital bed. The crowd witnessed as Seto dashed over to his brother's side, looking on grimly at the scene before them. This time round, the reporters stood frozen where they were.

The surgeons, relieved that the tense situation was over, directed the nurses to wheel Mokuba back to the ICU. Seto gladly helped the nurses to push his brother's bed. Despite the fast pace at which the procession was going, Seto never lifted his eyes off Mokuba's face. Once they reached the ICU ward, Seto stayed outside as the nurses attached the drips to his brother. One of the surgeons came to stand beside Seto.

"How is my brother, doctor?" Seto's tone was cold, but more of concealing his worry rather than indifference.

The surgeon hesitated for a while before he admitted, "For now, he's out of the critical stage. But it's left him in a coma."

"When will he wake up?"

The surgeon shook his head sympathetically. He laid a reassuring hand on Seto's shoulder. "We have no idea. But have faith, Mr Kaiba. Believe in your brother. I'm sure he's a fighter."

With that, the surgeon left Seto to watch through the glass panels of the door as the nurses ran a last check on Mokuba's condition.

XO XO XO XO

Back at the hospital lobby, the reporters were back in full swing. Every TV channel promised up-to-date coverage of Mokuba Kaiba's condition. Press journalists were typing out their stories and emailing them over to their headquarters, or dictating their articles over the phone. This had to be the biggest news they had in a long time. They could just imagine the headlines tomorrow. Not only that, but their bosses seemed to find it fit to run a special feature on the Kaiba family, mostly questioning how apt it was to leave a minor under custody of someone who was barely an adult.

In another corridor of the hospital leading to Mokuba's ward, the gang seated themselves on the couch. Nobody was in the mood for conversation or food. Joey was hunched on the arm of the couch, grappling with the idea of beating the crap out of the moron who did this to Moku-man. Tristan was seated opposite him, considering the same thing. Tea looked miserable as she wondered how Mokuba was coping now. Yugi was silent, feeling sorry for the Kaiba brothers.

"Y'know, those reporters sure are…" Joey trailed off, unsure which vulgarity was suitable to describe them. "They're treating this like it's some huge show or something. We're talking about Moku-man's life here, man. They're having a field day covering this news." He sighed. "I hope Kaiba's smart enough to get hold of the B who did this and give him what he deserved."

Yugi glanced around, suddenly remembering about his nemesis. "I wonder where's Kaiba. I'd like to know how Mokuba's holding up."

Tea caught his gaze. "You think we can go and check in on Mokuba? I mean, they won't mind, right? Even Kaiba won't be that evil to ban us from seeing him, right?"

Everyone heard Tristan mutter "Speak of the devil" and looked over to see their rival take a seat on the couch at the far end of the corridor. His white jacket was slung over his shoulder, revealing him in his otherwise all-black formal attire with his silver tie loosened. They observed quietly as Seto ran his hands through his hair, then put his face in his hands before finally resting his chin on the interlocking thumbs of his steepled fingers. He might not realise it, but the signal he was sending out was clear: he was at a loss of what to do.

The whole gang slowly turned away from him and huddled closer. Each person nudged the other while whispering words of encouragement for the target to approach their brooding nemesis. In the end, everybody was appointing Tea to be their representative.

"He's a jerk, but he's still a gentleman. He won't hit or swear at you or anything," was Joey's mock cheerful explanation as to why all of the boys chose her.

Tea willed herself to relax as she carefully walked over to Seto. She had managed to get the boys to disappear out of view for the time being. Maybe Kaiba wouldn't be as snappy when none of the boys were around. She slowly lowered herself on the empty space next to him. She expected him to snarl at her and tell her to get lost. He was aware of her presence, that much she knew, but he made no move to show that she was unwelcome.

Her eyes lingered on Seto for a while, noticing his anxiety, worry and panic that was cleverly all hidden in his blue eyes. Then she decided to try her luck. Like before, she spoke softly, "How's Mokuba?"

Even then, she braced herself to get told off or ignored. For a while, the latter appeared eminent. Suddenly Seto spoke in a hoarse whisper, "The doctors don't know when he'll wake up from his coma."

Tea stifled a gasp as her cerulean eyes widened in shock. No wonder Kaiba looked so lost. She thought for a while before speaking again. "But are you…Be strong, Kaiba. Mokuba'll pull through. I know he will."

Her friendly encouragement was met by cold silence. Tea took that as a signal to leave the area already. She just about stood up when Seto voiced out, "Stay, Gardner."

"Huh?"

Seto lifted his eyes and looked straight into hers. She fidgeted as she looked away. She hated penetrating stares; they scared her. But her fear dissipated the moment she heard the words, "Thank you."

Out of reflex, she turned her head back to look at him. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise to catch a very faint smile on his face. Technically, he was not smiling. But Tea swore she could see the smile of someone who was given a last sliver of hope on his features. Banking to be on the safe side, she shrugged as she sat back down beside him.

The two of them sat in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts and worries. Until finally the silence was broken when Seto got up and ordered, "Take care of my jacket" before heading back into Mokuba's ward.

XO XO XO XO

At the hospital canteen, Joey studied the vending machine again. He groaned as his stomach rumbled. All this waiting was making him famished. Where was Tea? He got Tristan to check his cell phone (it was Tristan's brother's, actually). No calls or messages from her.

Yugi had fallen asleep with his head on the table. That left Joey with Tristan and their empty stomachs to be entertained by. His stomach rumbled again. He was getting very hungry – again.

"I can't take it anymore! I'm eating!" Joey announced as he walked over to the vending machine. Just then he paused and scratched his head sheepishly. "Hehh, Tris? I need coins."

Tristan scowled as he fished for loose change. "You don't even have coins? Seriously Joey, what do you have in your pocket?"

"Ehh…" Joey stuffed his hands into his pockets and pulled out their contents. "Sweet wrapper, a receipt, folded up flyers, a receipt, another sweet wrapper, more sweet wrappers. And no ka-ching! Except for a five dollar bill."

His friend handed him a handful of coins. "Get one of those nacho chips for me as well, will ya?" His handphone beeped. Tea had sent a message. "Y'know Wheeler, forget the chips. Tea said that Mokuba's in a coma."

"Say what?" Joey yelped, his shrill cry waking Yugi up. He grabbed both Yugi and Tristan by the arm as he attempted to race down the hall while dragging two people on either side of him. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

The brigade pushed past the reporters who were thankfully confined to the lobby area by Kaiba's security. Roland stepped forward as if to halt them, but in the end relented. Orders given were to prevent reporters from swarming the ICU ward, after all.

"Tea!" Joey called out from the other end of the corridor. She looked up to see her best friends dashing over towards her. She immediately scooted to the side to allow them space to sit, gathering Kaiba's jacket in her arms. They plonked down beside her.

Tristan inclined his head at the direction of the jacket. "That Kaiba's?"

Tea looked down at the white jacket on her lap. "Uh…yeah. He's inside." She peered down the corridor at the closed door of the room. "I don't know if we can go inside."

Joey was already inching his way towards the ward. By the time his friends finally noticed where he was, he had his face pressed against the glass panel. He waved his hand in their direction frantically. His friends sidled up to him and together they peeked through the glass.

XO XO XO XO

Seto closed the door behind him and resignedly proceeded to sit on the chair beside Mokuba's bed. He perched at the edge as he cupped Mokuba's face in his hand before running it through his brother's hair. He completed the ritual with a soft kiss on his brother's forehead before taking Mokuba's hand.

"Mokuba, wake up," he spoke in the same tone as he would everytime his little brother fell asleep in the limo. "It's me, Mokuba. Come on kiddo, open your eyes. I know you can hear me. Fight it, Mokuba. Wake up."

He repeated those same words tirelessly, once in a while stroking his brother's face or smoothing back Mokuba's hair. With every minute passed, Seto's grip on his brother's hand tightened as he became more desperate in his pleas.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba," Seto changed his plea to an anguished apology. "It was me. I'm so sorry, lil bro. I'm sorry. Wake up, please." Seto let a tear fall. "Mokuba, please. Don't do this to me. Please. Wake up."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: again, this is kinda another heavy chapter. special shoutout goes to MythCreatorWriter for following this fic faithfully (:**

**keep those reviews coming in, guys! reviews make a story work (:**

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**[Chorus]**

**I'll always care for you**

**When you're awake and asleep**

**In all your dreams and reality**

**I'll always protect you**

**With my life and death**

**Never, I never want you to fall apart**

**- Dik by Wali Band**

Joey moaned, "I wish we could hear what's going on inside." He turned to look at his friends. "Should we bang on the door?"

"What's happening in there?" Yugi had grown slightly, but not enough to reach the height of the glass panel.

"Duck and hide." Tea ordered suddenly. The boys quickly followed, but not without them throwing her a questioning look. Tea made a turning motion with her hand that was away from the glass panel, and Tristan and Yugi quickly understood. They pulled Joey to hide behind the corner of the corridor before the blond could say anything.

Inside the room, Seto had stood up, defeated, and was making his way to the door when he caught sight of Tea peering in. He heaved a sigh as he unlocked and pulled the door open slightly. He extended his arm in Mokuba's direction wordlessly. He barely seemed to notice his jacket in Tea's hands. The moment Tea stepped in, Seto swiftly closed and locked the door behind her. However, he stood by the door and just watched as Tea neared his brother.

Tea held his gaze for a while, acutely aware of the straight, thin line of his mouth and his usual defensive cross-armed pose. An inclination of his head in Mokuba's direction assured her that her presence was permitted. Tea wasted no time to sit by Mokuba's side, smoothing back his hair like his brother did earlier on.

"Hey Mokuba, it's Tea," she whispered close to Mokuba's ears. "You need to wake up, Mokuba. Pity Kaiba. Don't make your brother worry. Promise me you'll wake up soon. Real soon."

She leaned back into her seat, watching Mokuba with a sisterly expression. She swivelled her head to look at Seto. She half-expected him to be throwing dagger looks at her, but Seto was simply staring into space. Suddenly she wished that Seto could at least throw some callous remark about her or her friends. The blank look in his eyes was more terrifying than even his rage earlier on.

She tried calling out for him. "Kaiba?"

XO XO XO XO

_I had seen this coming,_ Seto realised with a sick feeling in his stomach. _I knew this would happen. I could have prevented this. I always change my future, my destiny. Why did I let this destiny slip by?_

_His locket containing Mokuba's photo lay on his lap, and unbelievably, he was crying. Seto suddenly felt uneasy. He never cried._

_Out of habit every time he stroll through the corridors, he called out, "Mokuba?" Immediately after that, he winced at his idiocy. Even if his brother was here, it wasn't as if he could hear him._

_He came to a halt outside Mokuba's bedroom. He must have either relocated Kaiba Mansion or had the whole house refurbished because the bedroom doors suddenly looked more expensive. Taking a deep breath, he stepped right through Mokuba's door. Like every corner of the house, save for the hall, even his brother's room was empty. In fact, it wasn't just empty; everything in the room was horribly in place. Mokuba would never leave his bedroom without making it look like some tornado had ravaged it. The maid could clean it up, but the neatness would last less than 5 minutes._

_The main thing that was tugging anxiously at him now was a photo of Mokuba on his dresser. Seto went over to it and peered at the small wordings below the photo. Just to be sure, he scanned the newspaper article next to it. His face blanched._

He shook his head furiously. No, he was certain it was simply a dream. A dream that came true, he acknowledged bitterly. Look at what he was wearing now. All-black. If people did not know better, they probably would have thought he was all dressed up for a funeral.

_No, there will be no funeral!_ He chided himself angrily. _Mokuba will pull through this! He has to!_

He thought back to Pharaoh Seto in Ancient Egypt. The preist-turned-pharaoh had protected the Mokuba of his time. Why couldn't he? Why was he so weak as to allow all of this to happen? He wanted to let out a dry laugh. There he was sitting in his stupid limo planning security upgrades for Mokuba's safety when at the same time he jeopardized his brother's life.

_Is there any way to change this?_ His thoughts sounded so frantic to him, it almost sounded like a prayer. _If there ever is any way for me to change all of this, I won't think twice about doing it. If I have to suffer, then so be it. Anything as long as Mokuba's safe._

XO XO XO XO

Tea was almost shouting "Kaiba!" Only then did he seemed to re-notice her presence and gave her a questioning look. Tea sighed and pointed to the empty seat beside her. "You've been standing still there for so long. I know you're tired. Sit down."

Seto surprisingly obliged. She could hear the deep sigh of a man who was forcing himself to fight off any trace of tiredness, hunger or sleepiness. Wordlessly, she held out his jacket for him to take it. To her surprise, he declined and told her she probably needed it later. At her shocked expression, he looked at her pointedly, "You're staying, right?"

Tea was unsure what to say. "Uhh…of course." Which was a lie. She had planned to go home and have good night rest before popping by tomorrow morning or early afternoon. But seeing him in such an un-Kaiba like state, it mustered enough sympathy in her heart to agree to his request.

She checked her watch. It was nearly eleven. Had this guy even had his dinner? Other than that, she herself was feeling hungry. "You want to get anything to eat? I can get it for you as well."

Seto reached over to press a small intercom button. "Send in two packs of tuna sandwiches and plain water."

Tea stared at him in shock. One reason was due to the fact that he treated the hospital like a hotel. The other reason was that he barely consulted her about what she would like to have and instead just ordered what he pleased. However, she refrained from complaining. After all, he did order for her.

Again, the two of them sat in silence. Seto had his gaze transfixed on Mokuba's unconscious frame. Tea was, well, splitting her focus between the Kaiba brothers. She could not help but worry for both of them at the same time. Mokuba for being in a coma, Seto for being in a shell-shocked condition for hours. Their sandwich order came and Tea tucked into hers. Seto's remained untouched even until Tea finished all her food. She looked crossly at the young man and attempted to hide her worry, "Eat something, Kaiba."

_How can she expect me to eat when I know I could have killed my own brother?_ He saved the anguished thought for his heart and spoke contritely, "I'm not hungry. You can have it."

Tea peeled off the wrapper and held half a sandwich out for the brooding Kaiba. "Don't make me feed you. Mokuba would hate to see you like this. He's forever complaining that you're not eating and sleeping properly."

She covered her mouth apologetically, afraid that it would upset the CEO more. However, Seto merely gave a faint half-smile and ruffled his brother's hair affectionately. He murmured loud enough for her to catch on, "Always worried about me, this kiddo."

Just then, Tea found herself seeing Kaiba in a different light. Seated beside her now was not some arrogant company president who was skeptical about everything in this world except himself and his company. Rather, Seto Kaiba was just a normal big brother who was worried for his little brother.

All of a sudden, Seto asked, "What would you and your friends do if you know who did this to Mokuba?"

Tea looked at him, surprised. She set the sandwich back on the bedside table. She answered thoughtfully, "Well, Joey and Tristan would probably beat him black and blue. Yugi and I would rather you charge him with the law. But whoever did this, he's definitely heartless. How could he just leave like that after knocking someone down?"

"I…see." Seto seemed to hesitate before continuing. "What if the culprit is someone you know? A…friend, perhaps?"

Tea stared at the sullen-looking Kaiba. She said in a low voice, "Are you saying we know the culprit? That the culprit's one of us?" She continued to stare at Kaiba, and suddenly it clicked. "Don't tell me…"

"It's my limo," Seto finished the sentence for her. He buried his face in his hands. "It's my limo, Gardner! My limo. Me! I ran over my own brother that I swore to protect! I nearly killed him."

He turned his face away from her, letting his bangs shield his eyes. He pursed his lips together, a sheer effort to quiet any sound of devastation that could escape from him. He wanted to just tear away from this room. He was used to being face to face with people he or his family had wronged, one way or another. He had never felt any sense of overbearing guilt. But this was an entirely different – shame, remorse, guilt all snowballed into one. This was perhaps the first time he truly felt like giving in, just break down and shed every single tear that he could shed.

He was used to facing adversity. Truth be told, he no longer felt terrified even if Mokuba was kidnapped because he had an absolute conviction that he, as the guardian, would swoop in and save him. And through all those moments, he never felt any need to be pitied or sympathized. He rejected hands down any offer for help, adamant to prove that weak was nowhere in his vocabulary of life. Somehow, right now, all he wished was for someone to offer a sliver of assurance to enable him to get back on track.

Tea gripped his jacket tightly. It was him? She wanted so much to slap him, strangle him and even get Joey and Tristan to beat him up. But seeing Kaiba in that state… She shook her head. How could she sympathize with a jerk like him?

She cast a long mournful look at Mokuba before throwing the jacket at Kaiba. She said coldly, "Good night, Kaiba."

XO XO XO XO

_What can I do to make Mokuba wake up? I wonder how he is now. Won't he be hungry when he wakes up later? What if he wakes up and I'm not there? Will he be angry at me?_ Seto twirled his pen blindly on the mahogany meeting table. _I wished I hadn't told that stupid Gardner the truth. At least there'll be someone trustable there to look after him._

"Mr Kaiba? Mr Kaiba?"

The pen slid off the table. Seto shook his head and glanced up at his board of executives. All the smartly-dressed men and women looked at him questioningly. Seto gave them a dismissive flick of the hand. "I'm sorry. Continue."

The executive who was doing his presentation suddenly seemed unsure whether to proceed with the orders. He switched off his laser pointer. "Mr Kaiba, if you're not up for it, we could proceed with this meeting another time. We understand what you're going through."

Again, Seto waved his hand dismissively. "I don't mix my personal life with my work. Carry on, please."

The meeting carried on as instructed. This time round, Seto forced himself to listen to the discussion. They were discussing a new project that KaibaCorp had gotten, but he himself had forgotten all about. By the time the meeting ended half an hour later, Seto's head was whirring with potential ideas for the project. He actually left the meeting room with more enthusiasm than any of his employees had seen all day.

He pushed open the French doors of his office excitedly. "Moku –" his voice trailed off upon seeing the empty office. For a while, his little brother appeared seated at the edge of his desk. Mokuba glimmered in the light streaming through the windows, and Seto smiled widely when Mokuba turned around and gave him a little wave. Just as he stepped into the office, the specter disappeared. Seto glanced around the office wildly. He sighed as he pressed a hand to his temple.

_Hallucinations,_ he thought contritely as he sat at the same spot where he saw 'Mokuba' just now, looking out at the city scenery stretched out before him. _Just a trick of my mind, or guilt?_

He pressed a button on his office phone. His secretary came into view on the screen. He issued a sharp order, "Prepare my car."

XO XO XO XO

Tristan wrestled Joey to the wall in a bid to calm the furious blond teenager, who was practically yelling, "That bastard Kaiba! I'll get him for this! And all along we were hoping that he would put the moron who did this in jail, and turns out it was him!"

Tea snuck a peek around the hospital before shushing her friend loudly. She held up the latest noon edition of each of the newspapers. Never before had the papers ran for two printings a day until this incident cropped up. Somehow, the papers had made it the country's most sensational news. Deep down, she felt bad for Kaiba having to deal with all these sharks.

"Joey, calm down," Tea hissed. "The reporters don't have to know about this part of the story! Think about it, Joey. What if you were Kaiba and the one in a coma is Serenity? And then you discover you were the cause for her condition? Not only that, you have to face all these reporters that are hounding you for their papers' profits. How would you feel, Joey?"

Joey was silent for a while. In the end, he relaxed and so did Tristan's grip on him. Yugi quickly raised the olive branch by cheerfully suggesting that they all head back inside to check on Mokuba. Clearance was a no-brainer for them.

"But the moment Mokuba's awake, I'm beating the crap out of that stupid Kaiba!" Joey had continued to rattle on throughout the journey. "I'll run him over with a bulldozer, flatten him and tie him to lamp post! His brain is probably enough to light up the lamp for a century! Tristan, you can get Duke and then we'll teach him! But ehh, Yugi, don't, alright. He's still taller than you, no offense."

Once inside the ward, each of the boys took turns to give words of encouragement to Mokuba to recover. Tea just watched from the side, and as she witnessed her friends holding Mokuba's hand and wishing him a quick recovery, her mind floated back to the scene in the same room last night. How Kaiba had gazed at Mokuba, and how broken he looked. She had tried not to, but she could not help but feel so bad for him.

A gravelly voice from behind her startled her. "Any improvements in his condition?"

"Kaiba." Each of them uttered his name at the same time. When did he arrive? Tea shot Joey a warning look to pretend as if they did not know the truth, which he reluctantly understood.

Seto was leaning against the door jamb, one hand on the handle for support. Even if Joey had wanted to launch a tirade against the CEO, he probably would not have the heart to do likewise. As usual, Seto was dressed well in a light blue business suit with his polished shoes. Even his facial expression was the usual expressionless one. But everyone conscious in the room saw his puffy and blank blue eyes, with shadows under them that had probably darkened since the last time they saw him.

Seto scanned each of the faces in the room and snorted. "Don't pretend you don't know." The blatant bitterness in his voice was sufficient to maintain the silence.

Yugi was the first to speak up. "It's alright, Kaiba. We understand everything. I'm sure Mokuba does, too."

Seto said nothing, just pushed past the dorks to take his rightful seat beside Mokuba. For a moment, nobody said anything. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the whole deal, Joey announced that they would take their leave now, since there was already someone with Mokuba.

What Seto said surprised them, "Thank you everyone. I appreciate your concern."

Yugi smiled as he replied, "Mokuba's our friend too, after all. He'll be okay, Kaiba. He takes after you."

The four of them started to exit the room, with Tea being the last and the one to close the door behind her. She followed her friends, but suddenly tracked back and peered through the glass panel as surreptitiously as possible. Kaiba had Mokuba's hand clasped between his, and had rested his forehead on it while his elbows supported all that weight. Tea watched as Kaiba's shoulder shuddered, then shook uncontrollably. She looked away. She hoped the note she had left on the bedside table would work.

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**A/N P2: and no, people. there's no Azureshipping - so far. Tea's just being Tea. heheh.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: we'll get to see a little bit of Mokuba in here for once! **

**for the benefit of those who hadn't read Blood Brothers, both stories take place after Atem's sending off. so any references to Seto's past life will be regarded as Pharaoh instead of the usual High Priest. and in Blood Brothers, there was a scene where Pharaoh Seto announced the adoption of Mokuba's past life as his soon.**

**but if you guys are still unclear about certain things, just ask me ****(:**

**have fun reading, guys! keep the reviews coming in!**

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**[Chorus sang by the 'younger sibling']**

**You'll always care for me**

**When I'm awake and asleep**

**In all my dreams and reality**

**You'll always protect me**

**With your life and death**

**Never, I never want you to fall apart**

**- Dik by Wali Band**

He opened his eyes groggily and swivelled his head around, trying to identify where he was. He looked down and gave a small yelp when he saw plumes of dark purple smoke swirling around him. He scrambled to his feet, and expected to propel his weight forward. But somehow, he felt so light, it was almost as if he was weightless. In fact, there was no need to run; he was floating.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" he called out expectantly.

A familiar voice intoned from behind him, "You're awake, little one."

Mokuba whirled around, almost relieved at the sound of the voice. Yet, what he saw was not what he had expected. He gaped at the uncanny similarity between the figure in front of him and his brother.

"You're not my big brother." Mokuba said, carefully stepping back. "Where's Seto?"

The figure kept on coming forward, but his face wore a smile now. He was dressed weirdly, but something told Mokuba that the gold adorning the robe and the head-dress was real. The stranger stopped a few feet before Mokuba and said wistfully, "So in your time, I am your brother."

That immediately got Mokuba confused. Seeing Mokuba's expression, the stranger let out a soft chuckle. He regarded Mokuba kindly (Mokuba could not help noticing that even the way the stranger and Seto looked at him was exactly the same), "You can call me Pharaoh Seto, and I believe your brother is more than just my namesake, is he not?"

"So you're saying that you're some kind of his ancestor or something?"

Pharaoh Seto appeared thoughtful as he replied slowly, "Ancestor, reincarnation. Your brother is me in his past life." Once again he flashed that kind smile. Mokuba wished Seto could smile more like that. "And you, in my time, were my adopted son. How funnily weird it is that in your time, we're brothers."

Mokuba scratched his head as he looked around again. The smoke had not cleared up at all. He turned to face Pharaoh Seto, "I don't think I understand you, sir. But…can you tell me where we are?"

Suddenly, Pharaoh Seto's face shifted from one of smiles and openness to that of his descendant's favourite expressionless look. He placed a gentle hand on Mokuba's shoulder, "You're in the Spirit World, little Mokuba."

"What?!"

"But it's not your time to be here. Your brother knows that."

"Huh?"

Pharaoh Seto pointed towards the pendant hanging from Mokuba's neck. The latter looked down to see his pendant faintly glowing. He regarded the pharaoh questioningly. The pharaoh understood what he meant.

He held the pendant in his hand and spoke firmly to his son's future self, "The bond between you and your physical self is held in place by this pendant. The intensity of the light is dependant on your brother's faith in you."

Mokuba stuttered. "B-But it's fading slowly…"

Pharoah Seto nodded grimly. "Then you'll have to get your brother to start believing again. There isn't much time, little one. You'll have to reach out to your brother. You'll be able to enter his thoughts in his sleep." He added on after a short pause, "If he sleeps."

"What do you mean, if big brother sleeps? Hasn't he been sleeping?"

The king brushed the back of his hand against Mokuba's cheek. Mokuba shivered – even among spirits, the touch felt chilly. "Pray, my child. Pray that your brother will give you the opportunity for you to tell him what to do."

XO XO XO XO

Seto crossed his arms and gave the brunette and the blond seated across him a completely disinterested look. For good measure, he checked his watch and said in a clipped voice, "You're late."

Tea let his comment slide and replied as cheerfully as possible, "I'm glad you read the note, Kaiba. And agreed to meet us here."

He rolled his eyes. After his breakdown two nights back, he discovered a folded piece of paper on Mokuba's bedside table. Out of habit and less of curiosity, he unfolded the paper and read its content. He immediately regained his cold mood afterwards. Although the fast acquirement of that mood could be helped by the fact that he had not left the hospital ward for the past two days.

"Skip the niceties and get to the point," Seto was sounding nothing but pissed. He could barely believed he let himself agree to the request for a meet-up in the letter, but just to maintain the civil contact he had with them, he dragged himself to the burger outlet. The moment his towering, brooding self entered the place, the rest of the patrons stopped what they were doing and just watched him, bewildered, as he skulked his way to a table at the far back of the place. Seto Kaiba was the last person one expected to patronise a fast food outlet.

Yugi was the next to speak up. "Are you sure you're alright, Kaiba?"

His nemesis shot him a look that was probably meant for him to get out and shoot himself. He scowled as he leaned back into the cheap PVC seat. "I came down all the way here to get asked such stupid questions?"

The spiky haired blond pulled out a newspaper from under Tea's handbag and slid it across the table to Seto. "Have you read the papers, Kaiba?"

The scowl deepened into a frown as Seto scanned the headlines. He remained silent for a few beats, then asked in that low but menacing tone, "What the fuck is this?"

Tea was surprised. "Y-You didn't know?"

"If I had known, would you think I'd be asking you dweebs about it?" Tea and Yugi flinched at his words. Somehow they wished they could have just had called Kaiba over the phone to discuss about it. Seto speed read the front page article. By the time Yugi and Tea dared to look him in the eye, Seto's face was a mask of calmness. He coolly folded the newspaper and slid it back to Yugi. The two of them waited for Seto to speak up and utter something. None came.

Tea nudged Yugi. Yugi cleared his throat and tried to play nice, "Well, uhh… we thought you knew about it. And that, you know, you have some idea of what to do."

Seto snorted as he stood up, buttoning his black suit jacket. "And what does it matter to you? I can handle this. Now, if you two could please carry on with your date and excuse me."

He ignored the stares from the rest of the customers at the burger outlet. Now he understood the real reason why suddenly he was the star attraction at the place. It was less of the fact that he was the richest and most influential man in the city, not to mention the country. It was more to the fact that the all the newspapers had allocated the front page to the sudden court order on Mokuba's custody to be reviewed. Apparently, even now at the age of 20 he was considered to be lacking the traits of a proper guardian.

Seto's mind kept thinking back to what was said by an interviewed lawyer in the article: "Why had the court granted child custody to a boy who was three months short of his sixteenth birthday at that time? It was a huge mistake for the court to grant him that rights. I've read through the papers, and I have to admit that even at the age of fifteen, Mr Seto Kaiba was a persuasive speaker. I was and I am still highly critical of how easily the court gave in to him. We are talking about a child earning title of parent to another child, when in fact these two should have been placed under social welfare care until a proper guardian steps forward to take care of them."

_Bullshit,_ he fumed silently as he made his way to his Ferrari F430 parked not too far from the burger outlet. He barely knew what he was talking about. _Proper guardian? I am a proper guardian. I took care of Mokuba since the day he was born. I saved Mokuba from being influenced by Gozaburo. I risked my life to protect him. And that lawyer is talking about a proper guardian?_

He heard his name being called out, but chose to ignore it. He beeped his car to unlock and was about to get in when two hands slammed on the side of his car. He got into his car, anyway, but left the door ajar.

"Get your hands off my car, Gardner," Seto said morosely. He barely glanced at his lithe ex-schoolmate. "I don't have time to send this for a wash nowadays."

Tea resisted the urge to punch him in the face. How could someone be so arrogant and annoying all the time? She seethed inwardly as she panted to catch her breath.

In the car, Seto jammed his key into the ignition. The engine rumbled to life. He pressed a button on the side of his door, and the other door to the convertible swung open. "If you have something to say, get in. Otherwise, stop butting into my life. You have five seconds."

Tea immediately scrambled to the other side of the car and got into the convertible just as Seto finished counting. Without waiting for her to click her seatbelt in place, the red Ferrari had zoomed off. Keeping his eyes on the road and his concentration on the speed of the car at 120km/h, he barked, "Speak up."

Tea gripped the edge of her seat as she acceded shakingly, "We're trying to help you, Kaiba. Can't you see that?" She turned to look at him. "I mean, seriously, Kaiba. Look at yourself! You don't even look like yourself anymore. Tell me, when was the last time you ate or slept?"

"Am I obliged to answer you?" Seto growled as he grappled with the steering wheel to ease the car perfectly round a bend.

"I knew it!" Tea exclaimed triumphantly. "Kaiba, we're just trying to help you. Don't push yourself like this. It's not helping you or Mokuba." She shifted her eyes towards the road. "Chicane ahead."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, Gardner?" he muttered as he swiftly reduced pressure on the accelerator to get round the chicane. "And there's no need to tell me because unlike you I've been having my eyes on the road all the time. And also, I memorised the roads around here."

"I can't believe that a jerk like you can break down out of worry for Mokuba," the words stumbled out of her mouth before she even realised it. The car halted abruptly. If the seatbelt was not there, Tea could have found her face squashed on the windscreen.

Seto was glaring at her, fuming. "What did you say, Gardner? Me breaking down? I've had enough of your ridiculous nonsense!"

"And I've had enough your arrogance and ego!" Tea shot back, pushing open the door to escape from the car. "All I've ever done, all me and my friends have ever done is to try and help you because Mokuba's our friend! I saw you crying like you've never cried before and broken beyond description. And for that moment I actually saw that you're more human than you make yourself out to be. All I'm doing is extending friendship to you – even if just for this period – and try to help you out and get Mokuba to recover. But if you think you can look after Mokuba, get proper rest and food, settle your company, handle the reporters and this custody case all by yourself, then fine!"

The CEO remained unfazed. Rather, he pressed the same button on the side of his door and the door on Tea's side swung close and locked itself. Seto said gruffly, "So what brilliant idea have you dorks came up with to improve the situation I'm in?"

"Can't you say 'help' like a normal person? My friends and I were thinking that we will take turns to watch over Mokuba. Then maybe at night it can be your turn to watch over him. So in the day, you can settle what you have to settle and get your rest."

Seto thought for a while. There was some sense and logic in her words. He had forced his body to withstand the fatigue that was piling up. Truth be told, if he was to carry on like this for another day, he would just collapse. Part of him wanted to take up the offer. Another part of him was stubbornly insisting that he could handle everything that was thrown at him, as long as he craft out some strategy afterwards.

The door on Tea's side swung open again. Seto waved his hand in a get-out gesture towards her. Just before the girl slammed the door behind her, he called out, "I'll inform you my decision."

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba pulled his knees closer to himself. Pharaoh Seto had mentioned that once his brother was asleep, some sort of portal would open up to him and he would be able to cross over to Seto's dream. For all the time that he was waiting, he saw no sign of a portal opening up.

_Come on, Seto,_ he begged silently. _Get some sleep, please Big Brother_.

He felt a sinking feeling in his heart. He knew it was partly guilt for making his big brother end up like how he is now. It was also partly worry for Seto's condition. How did his brother survive with no sleep? He also could tell that Seto had barely eaten; he knew his brother that well.

Just then, a rectangular patch of white light slowly appeared before him, blanking out the dark swirling clouds surrounding him. Mokuba neared it slowly. Could it be? He peered through and almost leapt for joy. He wanted to scream out Seto's name, lurch forward to hug his brother tightly and promise him that he would never ever leave him. Seeing how peaceful his brother looked while asleep, despite still clad in his office wear, Mokuba felt a welling emotion inside him.

Closing his eyes shut, and wishing to enter his brother's dream and only his brother's, Mokuba stepped into the light.

XO XO XO XO

"Seto!"

Seto whirled around upon hearing the voice he loved the most. Reversing his route on the gravelled path, he dashed towards the source of the voice. He could make out the familiar silhouette through the mist. As he neared, the figure became clearer and clearer until finally it appeared before him in colour.

As much as he did not want to, Seto felt tears running down his cheeks freely as he lunged forward to hug the figure tightly. "Mokuba! Where have you been? I miss you so much, lil bro."

His little brother returned his embrace just as tightly. When the brothers pulled apart, both were looking at each other through teary vision. Seto smiled as Mokuba reached out a hand to wipe off his tears.

"I'm sorry I made you cry, Seto," Mokuba choked out his words. Seto shook his head as he ran his hand through Mokuba's thick black hair. "I'm sorry I've been doing nothing but troubling you. Thank you for everything all this while, Big Brother. Thank you for always caring for me, no matter in what condition. Whether I'm awake or asleep. Whether I'm conscious or not. Thank you for always protecting me, even if you have to risk your life to do so."

Seto shushed him with another hug. "It's my responsibility, Mokuba. Don't say that. I did all I had to do for you because I want to."

Still, Mokuba shook his head stubbornly. He gave Seto a weak smile. "I don't want to see you fall apart, big brother. It'll hurt me more."

"Mokuba…"

The younger Kaiba leaned in and gave his brother a hug that was tighter and carried much more meaning than before. He let go, and soon he was slowly floating backwards. Giving Seto a huge smile, he spoke, "Take care of yourself, big brother! I love you, Seto."

Seto tried to reach out for his brother, but he could not move. With wide eyes, he watched Mokuba disappear into nothingness. "Mokuba! Mokuba, stay! MOKUBA!!"

XO XO XO XO

"MOKUBA!"

Seto bolted up from his bed, barely aware how heavily he was panting. He ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair. His mind kept replaying his dream. What did Mokuba mean? Was he going to leave him?

He threw his covers aside and reached for the phone. His fingers were poised on the number pad, but then Seto hesitated. Who should he call?

_Whatever,_ he growled as he hurried to pull on a shirt and dark slacks. _I'm not going to let my dark dreams about Mokuba to become a reality. No chance, and not ever._

He bolted out of his mansion and got into his Ferrari that he had left parked at the porch a few hours earlier. As he sped out of the compound and onto the street, he thought furiously, _You're not going anywhere, Mokuba. I'll save you, and bring you back. Just wait, Mokie. I'm coming._

Then his thoughts paused. _But how am I going to do that? _He huffed angrily as a certain blond popped into his mind. _Yugi._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I used a different song this time round, cos I felt it was more relevant for this chapter. When I first heard the song, I thought that it would probably be something Seto would say to his brother, but would never say it out, no thanks to his ego.**

**Enjoy yea (:**

**Keep those reviews acoming! ILY all (:**

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**You'll always be in my heart**

**Filling up my space and time**

**Stay on here with me**

**Until we've had enough of it**

**Bridge:**

**When I hurt you unintentionally**

**Give me a signal**

**So I can quickly say I'm sorry**

**Reff:**

**Through wonderful times and sad**

**You sincerely stood by me**

**Although sometimes I hurt you deeply**

**Thank you for loving me**

**- Terima Kasih Kerna Mencintaiku by The Rain**

The minute Seto tore into the room, he was greeted by a sombre scene. Joey, Yugi and Tristan were standing sullenly around Mokuba. Tea was seated at a corner, gasping hard between her sobs to stop herself from crying. Seto wasted no time in grabbing Yugi by the collar and demanded harshly, "What happened?"

Yugi said nothing, but turned his face away from Seto. The latter hurriedly released him, almost slamming him down to the ground in the process. He diverted his furious stare to Joey. But even the dorkiest of the dorks was refusing to look at him. Seto forced himself to quell the panic building up in his heart and questioned a stoic looking Tristan in a harsher tone, "What. Fucking. Happened. In. Here?"

Tristan mumbled something, repeating the movements of his friends earlier on to avoid any sort of eye contact with the panicking CEO. Only after Seto snapped did he blurted out loud, "We almost lost him, Kaiba! His lifeline went flat!" Then he added on quickly, "But we managed to call the doctors in, and now he's…okay."

Seto pushed the three boys away from his brother's bedside. Neither of them objected. Even Joey moved away on his own accord before he received that rough shoving by his nemesis. Instead, the three of them silently made their way over to Tea, comforting her in between trying to catch a glimpse of what Kaiba was up to.

"I'm fine," Tea whispered to them, hastily wiping her eyes. She pointed to Kaiba discreetly. "But will Kaiba be…"

"I don't know, Tea," Joey muttered back. He bit his lip uncertainly. "But he should be fine. I hope."

Seto perched himself at the edge of Mokuba's bed, whipping out his wallet. He took out two cards – the gang caught sight of his beloved Blue Eyes White Dragon on one of it – and pressed it into Mokuba's limp hand. Ignoring the fact that his "friends" were watching, Seto lovingly stroked Mokuba's hair and slowly leaned towards Mokuba's ears. He made himself choke back any sort of sob that threatened to escape from his throat. Mokuba's words in his dream kept on ringing in his mind, "I don't want to see you fall apart, big brother. It'll hurt me more."

Heaving a deep sigh, he breathed these words into Mokuba's ears, "Hey little guy. I know you know that you appeared in my dream. Guess what I brought for you? Two of your favourite cards. And one of them represents our bond, our witness to what we've been through so far. You've drawn it for me twice, Mokie. And twice you saved my life and my soul. I should be the one to thank you for everything, lil bro. You're the hero, not me. You're the saviour, not me.

I did everything I had to do for you, and I try not to regret anything. All I want is to see you safe and happy. I never asked for more. I know I haven't been the best big brother to you after we left the orphanage. I know sometimes you think I'm too cold, or that I've lost it. I might have been a bitter, emotionless person if it wasn't for you and your love, Mokuba. Once I know you place all your faith in me, that's when I know I can do whatever I want in this world and it will turn out well.

But now I am asking something from you, Mokie. Please fulfill this first and last favour. Wake up, please. For our sake, and our future. I received a court hearing letter, Mokie. I need you to be there to convince them that they have no right to take you away from me. Please, Mokie. I can't bear to lose you."

He stood up abruptly, adjusting his shirt like nothing severe had happened. He let his bangs fall all the way down, purposely making them cover his eyes. He paused in front of the gang, as if wanting to say or entrust something to them. With a defiant shake of his head, he carried on with his journey out of the room, closing the door with a loud bang behind him.

"Well, we should stop expecting Kaiba to say thank you for what we've done," Tristan commented dryly, not too happy with the CEO's exit. "I suppose he assumed that one thank you is enough for a lifetime."

Joey and Tea peered through the glass panel to see where Kaiba was heading. As expected, he was trudging along the corridor that lead to the TV area for visitors, except that the TV was never on. The two of them exchanged looks, and Joey shrugged helplessly.

"He's crying," Joey announced confidently, a tinge of sympathy lacing his voice.

Yugi was surprised. "How do you know that, Joey? He barely looked at us just now."

Joey half-smiled. "I'm a big brother, Yug. I know." He lingered his eyes on Mokuba's frail form. "I bet he admitted to Mokuba that he loves him, and about that court thingey too. Especially that court thingey. He thinks that that ought to push Mokuba's will to wake up."

"Will it work?" Tristan and Tea appeared to perk up suddenly. They gazed at Joey expectantly.

"Well…" the blond appeared reluctant to carry on. "That depends. We almost lost Mokuba down there a while ago, didn't we?"

XO XO XO XO

Seto landed himself at a dark corner in the TV area, pressing his eyes shut as he tilted his face upwards. His dream and the tense air in Mokuba's room just now were looping itself in his mind. He wondered where was the stop button for that. Everytime he recalled when Mokuba let go of him in his dream, or the dorks' reactions when he arrived…

I'm sorry, Mokie, he thought heart-wrenchingly. I don't want to hurt you, but seeing you in that state… how can I not cry? What if you'll never wake up?

He let the first set of quiet tears fall, acutely aware of the way the salty ravines trickle down his sharp cheeks. _Mokuba reached out a hand to wipe off his tears._ He blinked back those tears with hopes of erasing that dream detail, but the rapid blinking only gave way to what was to be audible, racking sobs. He sure as hell was glad this was one of the most desolate area in his hospital.

_I don't want to see you fall apart, big brother. It'll hurt me more._

_Take care of yourself, big brother! I love you, Seto._

_I don't want to see you fall apart, big brother. It'll hurt me more._

_Take care of yourself, big brother! I love you, Seto._

_I love you, Seto._

"I love you too, Mokie," Seto mumbled through his torrent of tears.

He felt a nudge on his shoulder. He opened his eyes slightly to see a tissue being held out in front of him. Without thinking, he took it and dried his face. It was only after he seemed to have composed himself was he aware that somebody had given him a tissue. Meaning that somebody had witnessed him crying.

Seto groaned. Make that twobody. Tea and Yugi were standing across him, unsure of how to comfort him. Last time they checked, Kaiba did not need a hug or a nice cup of hot chocolate everytime things go against him, which is most of the time, losing to Yugi. The guy usually sulked and felt sore about the ordeal for a few minutes, then reverted back to his scathing, cynical self.

Yugi tried a weak smile as he held out an empty paper cup. "Coffee, Kaiba?"

Seto waved off the offer. Yugi shrugged as he and Tea sat on opposite sides of him. Seto sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned back. He really was not in the mood to entertain anyone. Especially not now. But he could not exactly drive them away, could he? They had helped to look after Mokuba. Seto decided that the best defense was offense.

"How come none of you nitwits called me when Mokuba's lifeline went flat?" he asked accusingly, tossing the used tissue into a nearby rubbish bin.

"We were panicking, Kaiba," Tea replied dully, as if his question was the stupidest she had heard from him. "People tend not to be able to think clearly in a state of panic. But we were wise enough to immediately get the doctor in."

Seto grunted what the two of them assumed was a reluctant thank you. He kept his attention focused to the ceiling of the TV area. Maybe if he was unresponsive they would have the courtesy to leave him alone.

Unfortunately, there was no chance of that. Tea prodded on, "How's the preparation for the court case getting along?"

"Fine."

"You've got the necessary papers and stuffs?"

"If I don't, what does it matter to you?"

Tea huffed. "Well, if you don't, then maybe we can think of something…"

"_We?! _" Seto barked out a laugh. "As far as I'm concerned, it's _my_ case."

"And as far as we know, we had a _deal_."

Yugi placed a hand on Tea's arm and said quietly, "I think you ought to cool down, Tea." He turned to face Seto. "Kaiba, we have to work together to win this case. We'll trust you to gather the required proofs. My friends and I will try to get Mokuba to wake up."

Seto gave them a cold stare. "Yugi, do you have any idea to reach out to Mokuba? Make use of your… hocus-pocus stuffs or something."

Tea stifled a laugh. The ultimate sceptic was actually asking a supernatural favour from Yugi? How things have changed.

Yugi shared none of her amusement. Instead, he regarded Seto seriously as he spoke, "I wish I could still do likewise, Kaiba. But ever since we sent Atem off, the Milennium Items went along with him. Now there's no way to contact the other world. I'm sorry, Kaiba."

Seto snorted. "What, you don't have some telephatic thingey with that other you?"

Yugi bit back a smile. "Kaiba, it doesn't work that way."

The three of them remained silent for a while, each planning what they should do. Tea was wondering if there is any way that Mokuba would wake up in time for the hearing. Yugi's mind wandered over to the Ishtar family; could they have a clue of how to contact the Spirit World? Seto, meanwhile, had gotten up and saluted a goodbye to the couple. He had a truck full of papers to go over. He had persuaded the court once – he would do it again.

XO XO XO XO

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Mokuba looked up, and only cried harder. Pharaoh Seto, puzzled, knelt down beside him, the cape of his royal robe falling neatly onto the floor (which Mokuba assumed it was).

"You met your brother," Pharaoh Seto said knowingly.

Mokuba sobbed, "I did. I didn't know what came over me, but I let him go. And then…"

The pharaoh held Mokuba until the boy was done crying. "I heard him speak to me. He told me that there were two cards in my hand. I know one of them's Blue Eyes White Dragon. He'll never part with that card. He loves it more than anything. I feel so bad, but I walked away too soon."

Pharoah Seto smiled bitterly upon hearing his love's Ka. _Kisara, my love,_ he thought as he absently stroked Mokuba's hair. _Even in the future, we're still bonded together. Still in the form of a duelist, and his beloved dragon._

"Did I do the right thing, Pharaoh?" Mokuba's teary question woke him out of his stupor.

The pharaoh looked down. With a thumb he wiped Mokuba's tears away. "Your brother wants you back, didn't he?" Mokuba opened his mouth to object, but he cut in. "You must go back, Mokuba. I'll find a way to get you back. I promise."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: i toned down this chapter slightly and made it lighter. less emotion and more practicality, as everyone gets set to help Kaiba out. okay, maybe slightly more humorous this time round.**

**enjoy this chapter, yea (:**

**

* * *

****For you my love**

**I'll be there when you're needing me**

**No matter how badly my day goes**

**You'll always be the sunshine in my heart**

**- Suria Hatiku (Sunshine in my Heart) by Taufik Batisah**

Tea had gone home for the night, leaving the boys behind to look after Mokuba. Tristan was somewhere in the hospital, possibly hunting for a late night snack. Joey had, for some weird reason, brought along his sleeping bag, and was now propped in a corner of the room fast asleep. Yugi was the only one awake in the room, once in a while humoured by Joey's random babbling in his sleep. He had been toying with the idea of contacting the Ishtars for hours now. And just like when he first started out, he was unsure whether to go ahead with it.

Tristan crept back into the room with an armful of potato chips and a few cans of Coke. From his jeans pocket he withdrew a few bars of Snickers. Yugi shook his head in amusement. Did Tristan rob the entire snack vending machine with what spare change he had? He caught a packet of chips, a can of Coke and a Snicker bar that Tristan slid over to him. All these junk food in a hospital. _Kaiba must really not been paying attention to health food to be served in his hospital_, Yugi thought wryly.

The silent supper the duo was enjoying was unwittingly interrupted when Joey woke up and hissed loudly, "You're eating chips, Snickers and Coke without me? That ain't fair! Toss some over to me!"

Tristan obliged as he snickered, "Gee, Joey. You wake up at the smell of food. Next time I'll bring in canned fruits."

Joey paused in the midst of stuffing his face with the chips. "Do that and you have the courtesy of finishing it up. On your own." He somehow seemed to realize that they were having a pig-out session on the floor of a hospital ward. He turned to Yugi, "Hey Yug. Any idea on how to help richboy?"

"Well, I sort of had an idea," Yugi swallowed the bolus in his mouth before continuing. "If maybe Ishizu or Marik can help us contact the Spirit World, then maybe we can lead Mokuba's soul back into his body."

"Uhh, y'know Yug, I'm used to all these mystical stuffs. But when you're talking about the Spirit World so casually, it sounds sort of freaky."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Tristan interjected, shining his handphone's flashlight from beneath his chin such that it created dark shadows on his face. He leered towards Joey as he spoke and cackled in a bid to sound like a lost demon. "Woo… I am Tristan's ghost, and I came here to haunt you, Joey Wheeler. Because you haven't paid your seventy dollars to me."

Joey gave him an incredulous look. "I haven't heard such a bad line since Kaiba's dark half pretended to be Kaiba's ghost. And that seventy dollars was ancient history, man. I forgot all about it, so you should too."

"Guys, let's not stray from the topic!" Yugi said loudly to prevent another friendly brawl between his two friends. "Tris, can I borrow your hp?"

"Sure thing," Tristan switched off the flashlight function and passed the phone to Yugi. "Who you calling? Ishizu?"

Yugi nodded as he pressed in the numbers. It was fairly easy to remember; most of the numbers just repeat themselves. For a while he wondered about the time difference in Egypt, but he decided to risk it, anyway.

The other end rang for a few moments more before a groggy voice spoke into it, "Yes?"

"Marik? It's me, Yugi!" the little blond boy almost yelled into the phone.

"Yugi?" the Egyptian boy suddenly sounded awake. There was a rustling in the background before his voice came back onto the line. "Yugi! What a surprise!"

"Hello Yugi." Yugi recognized the cool voice of Ishizu.

"Hello Ishizu!" Yugi beamed as he spoke. He glanced over at his friends and put the conversation on speakerphone mode. "Joey and Tristan's here too!"

They all exchanged greetings, and questioned each other mundane stuffs like the weather before Yugi launched into a short summary of what had happened. The Ishtars registered gasps and murmurs of "Oh my God" at all the right places. Joey and Tristan carried on with their pigging out session, interjecting once in a while with details that Yugi might have left out. By the time Yugi finished explaining his idea, the Ishtars were quiet.

Yugi wondered if maybe they had dozed off. "Uhh… hello?"

"We're still here, Yugi," Ishizu reassured him. "About contacting the Spirit World, as you know, Yugi…"

"Yeah, I know," Yugi sighed. None of them were in possession of any Millennium Items anymore.

"But I know somebody who might be skilled in doing this," Ishizu offered. "I'll try asking her if she could help out. I can't promise, Yugi, but I'll definitely try."

The trio in the hospital ward cheered up instantly. "Thanks, Ishizu!"

"Oh yeah, how come it's only the three of you? Where's Kaiba?" Marik interjected.

In the background, Joey and Tristan snorted. Yugi just sighed. "Somewhere. His office, maybe. But not at the hospital. He has that custody case coming up."

Joey decided to butt in. "How come the sudden query about Kaiba? Don't tell me you miss him and all his arrogance, cos I'm willing to trade places with ya. Even when he's not being himself, he's a pain in the ass."

Marik gave a hard laugh. "Are you kidding me? It's better if he's not there with you guys. Otherwise, I can't imagine what he'd say about my sister's suggestion."

Ishizu must have been smiling despite her attempt to defend her suggestion. "I have a feeling he'd probably be too desperate to say anything, Marik. Anyway, it's best if we go now, Yugi, Joey, Tristan. It's a long-distance call, isn't it? We'll get back to you if there's any news."

The three Japanese boys agreed to end the conversation and said their goodbyes. The moment the phone was back in Tristan's hand, they carried on with their abandoned pig-out session. Joey suggested the idea of eating right next to Mokuba. (His reason was that maybe just like him, Mokuba would wake up to the smell of junk food.) Yugi and Tristan duly ignored him.

XO XO XO XO

Tea pulled her jacket closer to her to stave off the chill. The chill came from two sources – the cool evening breeze, and the fact that she was walking on the streets on her own nearing midnight. And the best part was, she was unsure where to head to: straight home or to check on Kaiba. She herself could barely fathom why she was so concerned about the CEO after he had managed to annoy her earlier. Seeing someone in distress could really alter one's senses.

She trudged her way on, and simply gave up on the idea of choosing where to go. She would go wherever her feet led her to. Besides, Kaiba's mansion was not that too far off from her house. Her parents were away on a business trip, so really, it did not matter what time she reached home.

Her mind wandered to what could the three boys possibly be doing in the hospital ward. If she knew them well, they would probably be having the night of their life by finishing up all the available food at the hospital. If there ever was pizza, Joey would be the first to pounce on it. And then Tristan would have a scuffle with him over it, before finally the two clowns decide to share. She shook her head as she smiled. _Yups, that was definitely happening._

After what seemed like forever, Tea found herself pausing at the gate of Kaiba's mansion. As usual, he had posted two security men at the entrance of the gate. There was another two more at the porch. Tea sighed. Didn't the guy feel suffocated with all this security around him?

"Can I help you, miss?" one of the well-dressed security guard queried her, startling Tea momentarily.

Tea looked around. "Is Kaiba in?"

"No, Mr Kaiba hasn't returned yet," he replied in that professional voice. "May I know your name, so I can inform Mr Kaiba once he returns?"

Tea shook her head as she turned to walk away. "Tea Gardner. But that's alright, it won't be necessary to tell –"

The rumble of an engine and a blinding burst of yellow light blinded her for a while. She shielded her eyes as she peered to see where it came from, and groaned when she noticed. Seto had his head hanging out from the driver's seat of his convertible, throwing a questioning look at her.

"Gardner, what the hell are you doing on my property in the dead of the night?" Seto demanded. He did not sound annoyed or anything, just exhausted.

Tea moved away so she could see him and not damage her retina by the light. "I just came to check on you."

Seto signaled to the guards to open the gate and let them in before replying Tea, "Gardner, in case you haven't noticed, I am on my way to getting home. So if you don't mind, can you please hurry in and get out of the way?"

Tea scurried inside, keeping herself to the side of the pavement. Even then, she afforded herself a quick admiration of the mansion's compound. The road leading to the mansion was nothing fanciful and straight, made out of gravel and nothing else. The landscape was relatively simple as well, but easy on the eye. There was the customary flowering bushes along the side, and immaculately mown grass. Tea thought she had seen the exact same thing in a landscape magazine before.

_Go figure_, she remarked to herself. _If Kaiba ever could waste his time to plan a proper landscape garden to fit his home, I'll be surprised._

The convertible stopped directly at the front of the porch, and Seto stepped out of it in an almost languid fashion. He spoke a few words to his guards, who then made their way out gleefully out of the mansion. The same went for the guards at the gate. Only then did Seto whirl around and said dryly to Tea to stop dawdling and get inside the mansion before the security system was put on high level mode. Any movements after that could unknowingly trigger off the invisible laser beam detectors and cause a whole set of unneeded chaos.

The interior of the mansion was state-of-the-art, barely something straight out of a magazine like the landscape garden. Suddenly Tea realized that the CEO probably spent more time planning the interior rather than the garden, seeing he spent more time indoors than outdoors. The floor itself was a cause for danger – checkered black-and-white tiles of thick glass. Somehow, it was made to be non-slippery. But the masterpiece of the mansion had to be the grand stairway; it was made of glass and steel.

"It's non-slippery," a voice interrupted her train of thoughts. Seto was standing at the top of the staircase with his arms crossed. He had disposed of his briefcase but not his sour attitude. He cocked his head to a room on the right. "My study."

Despite the reassurance from Seto, Tea still found herself gingerly making her way up the stairway. How could such shiny, polished glass be non-slippery? In the end, she made it to the top and proceeded to enter the study room as directed.

If the hall of the mansion was classy and cold with glass, the study room was the complete opposite. The walls were mocha-coloured, and the floor was tastefully topped with a thick rug. Most of the furniture in the room was made of wood. The room already felt warm without the need for a heater. Tea recalled that Mokuba had mentioned that his brother had the entire mansion renovated and devoted the most attention to the study room. She understood why.

Seto was seated at his old desk with his back facing the ceiling to floor windows. He pressed a remote and the flat screen plasma TV came to live with its volume down. Tea seated herself on the forest green sofa. From the feel of the spring, it was an old sofa set. But it still felt comfortable, nonetheless. A thick black file landed on the coffee table in front of her. She looked up, shocked.

"If you're planning to help out, you can start by going through that file," Seto said emotionlessly. "I know you have more brains than your friends, so that's why I let you do this."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Tea held up the file and started flipping through.

"Whatever that can help me in my case, take it out and place them aside," Seto made his way to the door. Before exiting, he announced, "I'll be back."

With Seto gone, Tea sighed. More work when all she wanted to do was to simply check up on him and make sure he was not losing it just yet. She grudgingly flipped through the pages in the file, reading off the headings. Maybe that was a faster way of doing it rather than going through every single line. The file was filled with newspaper articles and various papers, detailing the granting of Mokuba's custody to Seto and the legal announcement of his adult status despite him being fifteen at that time. There was also a photocopied request for Seto to be enrolled into Domino High the moment he was declared an adult in the eyes of the law, meaning that he had to fulfill all the necessary criteria such as compulsory education. Mokuba's was there too.

Tea frowned. How could the court try to revoke Kaiba's rightful guardianship of Mokuba? He had fulfilled all the mandatory requirements, after all. He had a stable income, he had compulsory education (minus the fact that he only attended high school for less than a year technically, seeing he was always exempted and gone on business trips). He even made sure Mokuba had all the rights that was supposed to be granted to him: education, safety, shelter, food.

By the time she had finished going through the file, there was a relatively tall stack of papers on the coffee table, but with majority of it remaining in the file. She stretched and yawned as she caught a glimpse of the clock. It was nearly 3am? She got up and walked out of the study. Where was Kaiba, anyway?

The hallway was dimly lit. For a while, she thought of the laser beam detectors and the possibility of her triggering it. _To hell with that,_ she decided in the end. _It's all Kaiba's fault. Where is he, anyway?_ She carefully made her way past the various rooms, opening each door silently. At one point, she came into Mokuba's room and was immediately cheered by the sight of it. If she was Mokuba, she would be a happy kid to be able to have a room filled with all sorts of cartoons and games. The four-poster bed seemed a bit too much, though.

She reached the end of the wing and came face to face with the last door. Like all the other rooms, the door was made from teak. For a fact, she knew it was Kaiba's room. Would he lock it? She shrugged and decided to just give the knob a try. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. And sprawled on the four-poster bed, still in his shirt and slacks, was the CEO.

Tea shouted as loud as possible, "KAIBA!"

Seto grumbled as he sat up. The moment he saw Tea at the doorway, his eyes went wide. "What are you doing here trespassing my room?"

"YOU LEFT ME TO DO ALL THE WORK WHEN YOU'RE HERE ASLEEP!" Tea seethed.

Seto was indifferent. "So? You were the one so insistent that I get enough rest. And right now, I need more of that. So can you please get out of my bedroom and work on another file?"

"ANOTHER FILE? I'M OUTTA HERE!"

Seto scowled as Tea stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. He yelled out, "Watch that door, Gardner! Do you have any idea how much I paid for that?"

XO XO XO XO

An hour short of sunrise, Seto walked into his study, already decked out in his attire for the day. Upon seeing Tea asleep on the sofa with three settled files lying on the coffee table, he smirked. Half his workload done. He gathered the stacks of papers and neatened them into a pile before sliding them into his silver briefcase. Once he was done, he sat in his chair and switched on the television. This time round, he blasted the volume. Tea fell down from the sofa in shock.

Seto peered at her from where he was seated. "I thought you were outta here. Then I come in and I see all the files settled and you drooling on my sofa set."

Tea glared at him. "Joey's right. You are a creep."

He snorted. "Half of Domino City doesn't like me, so do you think your little threat will work against me? Get up, freshen up. I'll get my driver to drop you off at your house."

Tea smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you, Kaiba. I never knew you were so kind."

Seto smiled back condescendingly at her. "I just don't want people to be destroying my property anymore."

The moment she left, he withdrew his mobile phone and punched in a number. "Take charge of the matters in the office. Any meetings should proceed without me. I have far more important things to take charge of."

"And if there's a need for the office to reach you?"

"I'll call when I feel I need updating. Otherwise, don't bother me."

Seto looked out as the sun shyly crept over the horizon. He smiled a small smile, one hand reaching up to the locket hanging from his neck. _Don't worry, Mokie. We'll see the sunrise together again._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: less of the living world, and more of the Spirit World in this chapter. and yes, we do see Atem. he is, after all, practically a representative of the Spirit World.**

**hope you guys like this chapter as much as the previous ones!**

**keep those reviews coming yea! it'll feel great to have a few for a chapter. hehe.**

**MythCreatorWriter: yups, Marik had the phone on loudspeaker mode, hence the rustling in the background. sorry if it wasn't clear ya (:**

* * *

Mokuba kept close to Pharaoh Seto's blue robes, taking in the sight of the royal palace. The way the walls glimmered made him wonder if the entire palace was too made of gold. He peered up at the pharaoh. The latter seemed contented to be able to walk alongside him, once in a while pausing to let Mokuba marvel at the palace grounds.

"Seto," a familiar voice acknowledged the pharaoh sans his title.

Pharaoh Seto turned around and smiled warmly as he bowed slightly. "Atem, my king."

Mokuba's eyes widened. Standing before him was the other Yugi, the taller one. He could not believe he could meet him again, especially not after his sending off in Egypt.

Atem sighed. "Seto, there's no need for such formalities in this place, you know that. Here, we are nothing more than cousins and friends."

Pharaoh Seto chuckled. "Atem," he gestured to Mokuba. "I understand you must recognize him, yes?"

"Indeed I do!" Atem exclaimed, his eyes widening at the sight of Mokuba. Then those same eyes narrowed in Pharaoh Seto's direction. "Seto, what is he doing here?"

"Apparently, he… seemed to have accidentally stepped into our world. His body is lying unconscious somewhere. I'm trying to help him return. But for the time being, I thought it'd be better if he calmed down first."

Atem knelt down and patted Mokuba's hair. "We'll get you back. Kaiba must be out of his mind worrying about you."

"He is?" Mokuba asked disappointedly.

Pharaoh Seto glared at Atem. Then he too knelt beside Mokuba and reassured him in a soothing voice, "Your brother is trying everything he can. His faith is building up." He held Mokuba's pendant up. "See? You'll go back. The time will come soon."

Mokuba looked like as if he believed every word Pharaoh Seto said. Leaving Mokuba to wander off on the nearby palace grounds on his own, Pharaoh Seto decided to take a walk with his cousin.

"I'm surprised you were so… fatherly to a stranger," Atem remarked thoughtfully. "Usually you're civil but not so warm."

Pharaoh Seto looked straight at his former king. "Regardless of the time frame, he is still my son. I can't help it."

This time round, it was Atem's turn to chuckle. "Now I see where Kaiba got his stubbornness from."

"Oh really? Maybe you could tell me how I am as Kaiba."

Atem was only too pleased to oblige. Unlike Yugi and Kaiba, his relationship with Seto was built first on loyalty, then on friendship. The former's relationship was initially built on rivalry, which somehow evolved into an unacknowledged friendship. He listed Kaiba's traits, both the positive and the negative ones. By the end of the walk, Pharaoh Seto had to admit, they were very much alike.

"But at least you're more expressive with your emotions and humbler than Kaiba," Atem added on ruefully. "Those are some traits that Kaiba has yet to develop." Then he caught sight of Mokuba looking up expectantly at them. Atem changed his tone. "Mokuba! You're done touring the grounds?"

Mokuba laughed as he nodded. "Yeah! I never knew it was so huge!" He cast a long look at each of them and sighed. "I wish Big Brother could be as nice to Yugi as you guys are to each other."

Atem and Pharaoh Seto exchanged looks. Pharaoh Seto shrugged, an indication that it was up to Atem to say whatever he wanted. After all, Atem was the one who knew Kaiba well.

"Well," Atem started. "Kaiba's a nice person. He just doesn't show it as much to pe –"

He was cut short by a blinding flash of light emanating from the entrance of the palace. Pharaoh Seto shielded Mokuba with his robe. What the heck is that?

XO XO XO XO

Joey handed back the phone to Tristan, peeved and confused. He had just contacted Tea, and despite it already being 10am, she had grouchily told him to call later and said that she was still too tired to talk cos she was up all night. That was precisely what he was telling Yugi and Tristan now.

"And when I asked her what she was doing, she just grumbled and told me to ask Kaiba," Joey story tell in disbelief. Then his eyes widened as something clicked in his mind. "Kaiba must have done something! I bet he did!"

Just then, the ward's door swung open and in strode Seto Kaiba in all his arrogance and superiority. He had on his black attire and purple studded coat, with his silver briefcase in hand. Without so much of a greeting to the three guys, he set his briefcase beside Mokuba's bed. He was just about to bend down to kiss his brother's forehead when Joey grabbed his collar.

"What have you done to Tea?" Joey demanded, tightening his grip on Seto's coat.

"Let go, Wheeler," he gripped Joey's clutch and twisted his wrist with just enough pressure for the blond to let go. Of course, the ease was increased thanks to Yugi's and Tristan's restraining effort. Seto dusted his coat's shoulder and straightened out himself. "Besides, you should have been honoured to have such an efficient friend."

"WHAT?! She consented?!"

Seto stared at him, confused. "She offered, I just obliged."

The trio exchanged horrified looks. Yugi was the most taken aback. Joey, meanwhile, had lurched forward, preparing to punch the indifferent CEO. Seto caught his arm easily and sent him tumbling back to where he was standing thirty seconds before. This time round, Seto was pissed, "What the fuck is wrong with you, Wheeler? Gardner just helped me settle three files for my case in one night. That's all."

"Oh." Joey uttered, rubbing the side of his head. "Heheh. Misunderstanding much?"

Seto ignored him. "I'll be staying here for the next few days. All of you can go back if you like. And if not, do me a favour: stop annoying me." He glared at Joey for good measure.

XO XO XO XO

With the trio gone, Seto could finally relax and ease back into his big brother mode. He seated himself beside his brother, staring intently at Mokuba's unconscious figure. He remained still for a while, before suddenly, but smoothly, leaning in forward to cradle Mokuba in his arms. It had only been one night, and he missed him so. He placed Mokuba back on the bed and shifted himself so that he could reach out to open his briefcase.

"Morning Mokie," Seto greeted. He imagined the scenario to be the usual morning scene at home before they were orphaned. He tried to inject as much cheeriness into his words, despite the fact that he found the whole deal awkward to him. How long had he abandoned this routine? "Come on, bro. We gotta see the sun high up in the sky. You like the sun, don't you? It's out there, waiting for you." But instead of moving to throw the covers aside, Seto pulled the covers up to Mokuba's chest. "But I guess you wanna hear a story first, huh?"

_I can't believe I'm doing this,_ he chastised himself as he pulled out a thin book from his briefcase. _But never mind. All of this is for Mokuba._

"Alright, bro," Seto flipped to the first page of the book. It was some random fairytale that he recalled Mokuba used to have being read to when he was younger. In fact, he recalled having to resort to reading it to get Mokuba to wake up early in the morning without throwing a tantrum. " 'Once upon a time, there was a woodcutter…"

XO XO XO XO

"I can go back?" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly. He was unsure who the newly-arrived woman was, but she had just explained that she was sent from the present living world to lead Mokuba back to where he belonged.

Atem squinted at her, scrutinizing her jet-black hair and her olive skin. No doubt, she was an Egyptian. He decided to check. "Are you sent by the Ishtars?"

The woman smiled as she nodded. "Yes I am, pharaoh. Ishizu has filled me in about the situation, and of course told me a lot about you, great pharaoh."

Atem smiled amidst Pharaoh Seto's puzzled expression. "Ishizu. It's been so long. Send my regards to her, will you? But Mokuba. How is he to return to his body?"

The woman was quick to comfort him. "Don't worry, my king. He'll get back to his body safely, I promise."

Pharaoh Seto placed a hand on Mokuba's shoulder and squeezed it. "I'll send him off as well."

The woman looked surprised. "But Pharaoh Seto…"

"No buts," Pharaoh Seto said firmly. "He's my son. I'll send him off. Let's go."

XO XO XO XO

" 'And so, the woodcutter and his son learnt their lesson: never be too greedy, and just be thankful with what you have'," Seto finished off the story and closed the book. He placed it underneath Mokuba's pillow. He lay his head beside his brother's and spoke softly, "Tell me, Mokie. What can I do to get you to wake up? I miss you, Mokie. I haven't seen your smile, heard your laugh, got scolded by you for days. You know how empty my life has been without you, lil bro? But I'm never giving up on you. You hear that? Never."

He closed his eyes and hummed a tune,

"**Let me look after this feeling**

**Protect all the love that you've given me**

**If you leave I'll stay**

**If you go away I won't be far from you**

**Because in truth I am still placing my hopes on you**. "

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba halted in his steps. Pharaoh Seto, who had been holding him by the hand, glanced down at him. Even the astral projection of Ishizu's friend seemed puzzled.

"I hear Big Brother," Mokuba said haltingly. "He's… humming something."

"Huh?" the reaction from Pharaoh Seto and the woman was synchronised. They paused to listen to the still air. "We don't hear anything."

"I heard him!" Mokuba insisted. He strained his ears and listened hard. "He _is_ humming something! Big Brother wants me back!" He whirled around, trying hard to find an opening for him to jump back into his body. "Where's the exit?"

The woman placed a hand on his shoulder, signalling him to calm down. Pharaoh Seto just looked uncomfortable. Mokuba's shoulders drooped as he realised that it would not be as easy as that.

"Mokuba, listen to me," the woman's voice was kind, but stern just like Ishizu. "Just follow me. We'll have to find back and reconnect your astral cord, and only then can we send you back. After that, your body will still need time to readjust to your soul being back in it."

"You mean, I won't wake up immediately?"

The woman shook her head. "Your astral cord was broken for some time, Mokuba. It takes time to heal it."

Pharaoh Seto held Mokuba close to him. Mokuba fought back tears. The king's embrace was so reminiscent of Seto's. Pharaoh Seto spoke into his hair, "What do I always tell you, Mokuba?"

Mokuba replied without realising that the one talking to him was not Seto, "If you fail, try and try again until you succeed at what you're doing. Giving in makes you a failure."

Pharaoh Seto gave a small smile. "My descendant does give sound advice for someone as egoistic as himself. Have faith, little one. Have faith, and you'll reach your dreams."

Mokuba grinned. _Wait up, Big Brother! I'm coming back! And the first thing I wanna see is your smile, and the first thing I wanna do is hug you. I miss you, Seto._

* * *

**A/N P2: the bolded words are lyrics (i love the fact that music relates so well to life) from the song Menjaga Hati (Taking Care of the Heart) by Yovie & The Nuno.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: thank you everyone for reading, fave-ing, reviewing, putting this on alert and whatnot! i realllyyy appreciate all of that! this is probably going to be the second last chapter of this fic (yes, i know. i feel sad that this fic is coming to an end. i really like this one. sobs.)**

**anw, i chose this song by Christine Glass because it just reminded me of something that the Kaiba brothers felt for each other. the fact that they depend on one another to pull through anything that's thrown at them in their lives.**

**hope you guys enjoy this chapter, yea! reviews aplomb, alrite?**

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**If you wander off too far, my love will get you home.  
If you follow the alone star, my love will get you home.  
If you ever find yourself, lost and all alone,  
get back on your feet and think of me, my love will get you home.  
my love will get you home.**

**If the bright lights blind your eyes, my love will get you home.  
If your troubles break your stride, my love will get you home.  
If you ever find yourself, lost and all alone,  
get back on your feet and think of me, my love will get you home.  
my love will get you home.**

**If you ever feel ashamed, my love will get you home.  
When there's only you to blame, my love will get you home.  
If you ever find yourself, lost and all alone,  
get back on your feet and think of me, my love will get you home.  
my love will get you home.**

**If you ever find yourself, lost and all alone,  
get back on your feet and think of me, my love will get you home.  
my love will get you home,  
my love will get you home.**

**- My Love Will Get You Home by Christine Glass**

Aisha awoke with a start. Someone quickly handed her a glass of water, to which she murmured, "_Shukran, sadiqati_."

"_Afwan_, Aisha," Ishizu murmured back. She helped her friend to her feet. Astral projecting could really drain someone. "Is it done?"

Aisha gulped down her drink before nodding. "_Na'am_, Ishizu. Yes. Your friend will have his brother back very soon." She smiled widely, remembering back to her experience in the Spirit World. "He was such a pleasant boy. Your friend is so lucky to have a brother like him."

To that, Ishizu could not help but smile back. "Should I inform my friend now, or let it be for the time being?"

Aisha seemed thoughtful. "Let it be, Ishizu. There's no guarantee when precisely he'll wake up. But it'll surely be in these few coming days."

XO XO XO XO

Tea stuck her head in and peered into the hospital ward. Neither she nor her friends had been down to visit Mokuba for the past few days – the continuous heavy rain had made it difficult for them to get around. The only reason she braved the rain today was because Yugi had just called her to tell her that Ishizu's friend in Egypt had managed to lead Mokuba's soul back to his body. He had told her that there was no need to rush there because there was no definitive date for Mokuba to wake up, except that it would happen sometime this week. She had tried to rope her friends in for the visit, but they were either tied up with helping out at home (Yugi), or nursing a bad cold due to some audacity to run about in the rain (Joey and Tristan).

The lighting in the room was dimmed slightly, but nothing had changed much. Except for the fact that a small working table had been brought in, and strewn all over it were leaflets of papers. She bit back a smile at the sight of Seto fast asleep next to Mokuba; he had leaned over on his chair and rested his head beside Mokuba's. Seeing Seto peacefully asleep, she could not help but noting how harmless he looked.

Quietly she walked in and rearranged the papers on the table. Seto had been working hard on his case. That much was obvious from the post-its and the scribblings on the stray foolscap papers. She frowned. _Why was he putting in so much effort into piecing his case? Shouldn't his lawyer be in charge of all this? He should have a lawyer, right?_

After she placed the stack of papers on Seto's briefcase, she seated herself at the seat beside Mokuba's bed, across Seto. She ran her hand through Mokuba's hair and smiled. He was lucky to have a brother like Seto to have cared so much about him and willing to protect him at any cost. Suddenly, her cerulean eyes caught sight of something moving. Mokuba's hand was moving!

Without thinking twice, she leaned over to tap Seto hard on his shoulder. "Kaiba! Mokuba's hand moved!" the joy in her voice was unmistakable.

"Mokuba!" Seto awoke with a start and immediately clutched his brother's shoulders, shaking it repetitively. "Mokuba!" He punched a button on the wall. "Mokuba!"

The ward door flung open, and in flew a team of the best doctor and nurses in the hospital. They immediately got set to work and ran a quick checkup on Mokuba. Seto was standing impatiently beside them, the shine of hope so obvious in his blue eyes. Tea had proceeded to a corner and had her clasped in front of her as she prayed for Mokuba's conciousness.

After what seemed like forever, the doctor pocketed his stethoscope. Seto pounced on the question, "Is he waking up?"

The doctor shook his head. "There's no sign that he's waking up soon, Mr Kaiba."

"But his hand moved!" Seto insisted, one hand grabbing Mokuba's. "She saw it! I saw it too!"

The doctor sighed and steadied the CEO's shoulders. "Mr Kaiba, calm down. The movement was probably just a reflex action. There's no sign he's waking up soon. I'm sorry, Mr Kaiba."

Seto crumpled back into his seat as the medical team took their leave. Tea shuffled forward hesitantly. Should she keep her mouth shut or offer some words of comfort? Still unsure, she neared Seto and just stood beside him, watching on as he gripped Mokuba's hand, murmuring his brother's name over and over again.

"Kaiba…" she gingerly put a hand on his strong shoulder.

"Shove off, Gardner," his voice was muffled, but retaining the harshness he was famed for.

Tea was not put off by his act. "Kaiba, don't be like this. Please."

Seto remained still for a while, then he stood up. Still keeping his eyes on his brother, he spoke contritely to Tea, "Please look after my brother. I'll be back asap."

With that, he shoved his papers into his briefcase and grabbed it as he swiftly exited the room. Tea just stared after him. Could she trust his word this time round?

An hour and a half later, Tea regretted doubting Seto's words. He returned, all freshened up and looking slick in his well-tailored black suit. He gave out an air of crisp professionalism, with none of the arrogance he was well-known for. This time round, he came in empty-handed.

"How's Mokuba? Any signs of him waking up yet?" he asked softly.

"Nothing yet, Kaiba," Tea replied, equally soft. She glanced up at him, and her gaze softened at how stoic he looked. "I'm sorry. I know you're expecting that…"

Seto waved her off. "It's alright. I just… wanted to know."

Tea stood up and moved to give way for Seto. "You wanna talk to Mokuba?"

"Yeah," Seto seated himself beside Mokuba. Tea wondered if he ever tired of gazing into his brother's face and stroking his brother's hair. Probably not, she thought wistfully. Kaiba's not bad a person, after all. Aware that the brothers probably need some space of their own, she inched away to be near the door. That way, she would be out of Seto's earshot. But she trusted that her ears were sharp enough to catch what Seto was saying. Not that she would spread it, of course. She merely wanted to get some insight on the CEO. She had always wondered how someone as cold and ruthless as Kaiba could be so tender and warm at times.

"Mokuba," she heard Seto say. "Today's the day. I'm sorry I have to leave you for now. But if I don't turn up for the hearing, they're gonna make me rescind my responsibility over you. I don't want that happening, and I'm not gonna give it any chance of ever happening. I'm not going to lose you, Mokuba. I know that you'll be with me." He held out his pendant; there was another small silver pendant hanging beside it. "You and me. Always." He bent down to plant a kiss on his brother's forehead. At the same time, he made it such that his bangs cover his eyes so Tea would not see the small specks of tears that threatened to fall. The next few words were breathed onto his brother's wet forehead, "I'll always love you, my dear Mokie."

Gathering his composure, he straightened his jacket and headed for the door. As he passed Tea, he kept his head down, but still spoke loudly and clearly, "I trust you with Mokuba." He paused for a beat. "When he wakes up, alert Roland."

"O-Okay," Tea was too stunned to say anything properly. "I – You – Good luck, Kaiba."

She swore she saw the corners of his lips twitch slightly as he languidly made his way out of the ward, but not without one last long look at Mokuba.

_All the best, Kaiba,_ she wished silently as she watched him go. _You did everything for you and your brother. I know you'll win it._ She averted her gaze to Mokuba and she felt fierce sorrow empowering her. _But I know more than anything, you want Mokuba to be up_.

XO XO XO XO

"We're currently outside the subordinate court, where we'll be witnessing the case that has everyone in Domino buzzing," Jenna Suzuki, the raven-haired journalist broadcasted into the rolling camera. "In a few moments now, the custody case of Mokuba Kaiba will be reviewed by the court. His brother and current guardian, a businessman whose name is familiar with everyone in this city, Seto Kaiba, is due to arrive any minute now. If he fails to make an appearance, the court will grant the custody to the social welfare department and revoke him of his rights as guardian. And speaking of Seto Kaiba, the man himself has turned up!"

The camera quickly panned to Seto emerging from his limo. He had dark glasses on, and barely gave a glance at the media swarming him like bees. Once in a while he raised his hand and politely declined to give any comment or statement. Other than that, he seemed to remain focused at the task on hand and swiftly proceeded to enter the courtroom.

"Apparently, Seto Kaiba has turned up without a lawyer!" Jenna continued her report. "This is a surprise, because almost everyone had been expecting him to hire the country's top lawyer, David Yamato, to represent him in this case. We'll be bringing in more live updates from this court drama, so stay tuned to receive all the latest news from me, Jenna Suzuki, right here on TV Plus."

XO XO XO XO

Tea bit her lip as she overheard the nurses discussing Kaiba's court case. _So he did go without a lawyer. Stupid guy. Just because he thinks he's Seto Kaiba, he can do everything alone? I thought he'd be more responsible than that._

She closed the ward's door slowly. There was no need for Mokuba to hear all about the case. She knew for a fact that patients in a coma need encouragement, not more tense or bad news. But she needed to find out what was happening, and no way was she going to rely on the nurses' network. Half of them were biased towards Kaiba, if only for the reason that he was the most good-looking person they had ever set eyes on. Tea was sure she would not have the patience to weed out smatterings of "Oh, poor Seto!" and "I wish I was there to hug my future boyfie". She had heard enough of that from her stays in the hospital.

There was a television set in the ward, but it was switched off. In all the time that she and her friends had been here, it was never on. Joey had tried to get Kaiba to turn it on, but the CEO had merely grunted and said that he did not know if it was working. Still, it did not hurt to try, right?

Tea dragged a chair over and hurriedly climbed on it. She had to tiptoe to reach the on button on the television. _Yes, it's working!_ She almost leapt out of excitement right there and then. Quickly she muted the volume. After all, there would be headlines streaming at the bottom of the screen every few minutes. Then she thought again. What's tv without sound? Throwing a quick glance at Mokuba, she upped the volume by 3 levels. It was soft but still audible if she really concentrated.

She got back down, propped herself beside Mokuba, and watched her former nemesis do battle in court on his own.

XO XO XO XO

Seto forced himself not to cast an annoyed or disapproving look at the rate his case was going. He took the risk of becoming his own lawyer. Why should he pay someone else to protect his brother when that was precisely what he had been doing all his life? Now, if only the court could understand it.

"Now, you stated that you've done your best to your abilities to protect your brother," the defense attorney pressed on, adamant not to shut up. "If so, then why did you allow your brother's safety to be compromised on more than one occasion?"

"I stated that I did my best to protect him, but sometimes things happen that we cannot foresee," Seto replied curtly through gritted teeth. "If I had foreseen those things happening to Mokuba, do you think I'll allow it to happen?"

_I did,_ his guilty conscience struck him. _That's why Mokie's in the hospital, still unconscious_.

"This is not your place to question me, Mr Kaiba," the DA shot back just as sweetly. "I'm the lawyer here, and you the one on trial."

"Objection, Your Honour," Seto called out, looking at the judge straight in the eye. "He is making irrelevant claims to his and my position in court that has nothing to do with this case at all."

"Objection granted," the judge said in a bored tone. He gestured to the DA. "Mr Niigata, please keep your questions to be of relevance to the issue at hand."

The DA bowed slightly to the judge, one hand across his chest. "I'm sorry, Your Honour," he spoke mock sincerely. Seto rolled his eyes. He knew the guy was just out to get him. "Mr Kaiba, let me make this clear. At the age of fifteen years old and nine months, you demanded, not requested, the court to grant you custody of your brother. And you also pushed to be given adult status by the time you turned sixteen. Were you aware that at that time, you were still considered to be a minor? What pushed you to demand for all those things?"

Seto threw a pleading look to the ceiling of the court. This was going to one hell of a long, irritating day. He replied in a terribly bored voice, "Yes, I was mentally sound and perfectly aware of my position as a minor in that point in time. But ever since my father, Gozaburo Kaiba, vanished after I took over Kaiba Corporation, he left me and my brother to fend for ourselves. If you were me, wouldn't you have done the same thing that I did? Which is to fulfill my responsibility as an older brother. Would you have left your own flesh and blood defenceless? Mr Niigata, surely such reasons should have been made obvious to you."

"My personal opinion doesn't matter, Mr Kaiba. Next question …"

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba pushed himself to open his eyes. He heard Seto's voice in the background; he could not make out what was being said, just that he finally heard the beloved voice. Whoever Seto was dealing with right now, he could not have been happy. He sounded as if he was hell-bent on throttling the person.

One of his eyelid finally gave in to his demand to open. The first thing he saw was dark brown hair. That got his other eye to open up as well. His lips were already pulled into a huge grin. He's back! He lurched forward to hug the person sitting beside him, but stopped short. It wasn't Seto.

"T-Tea?" Mokuba mumbled.

The brunette whirled around suddenly and jumped from her seat. The next minute, Mokuba found himself smothered in a bear hug as she cried and practically shouted, "Mokuba! You're up! Oh my God! You're up! Mokuba!"

Mokuba patted her back and disentangled himself from her embrace. Tea looked back at him and laughed as she wiped her eyes. Mokuba smiled weakly back. Then he caught sight of the television set.

"I'd better tell the nurses and Roland that you're up!" Tea pressed the button on the wall. She was still in tears as she ruffled Mokuba's hair. "I can't believe it! You're finally up!"

Mokuba pointed shakily at the television screen. "Tea? What's Seto doing there in court?"

Tea took a deep breath. How was she going to explain this one? "Uhh… your brother has some… case to settle."

The younger Kaiba blanched. "It's the custody case, isn't it?" Mokuba dragged himself out of bed, and gritting his teeth to withstand the pain (so not unlike his brother, Tea noted), pulled the tubes out of his arm.

At the same time, the ward's door swung open with the doctor and nurses all standing behind Roland. Without haste, Mokuba grabbed Tea and Roland by the hand and pulled them out of the room, ignoring the medical team's call to stop.

"Mr Mokuba, wouldn't it be better if you –" Roland was just about to pass on a friendly advice for his younger charge to remain at the hospital.

"Get us to the court now, Roland!" Mokuba cried out, running down the hallway. Roland and Tea pounded hard after him. Where did that kid get the energy to run like that from?

XO XO XO XO

Seto made sure that his face remained expressionless and cold as always. He was losing the battle. Maybe he should have gone along with the court's initial idea of having the case spread out over a couple of days rather than insisting that it be a speed trial that could be completed in a day. The judge seemed to have bought the idea that any man who let his charge get kidnapped or lost on more than three occasions was not fit to bear the title of guardian. Seto stared at the floor, racking his brain to come up with any last minute saving grace.

_If only you were here to defend for your rights, Mokuba,_ he thought. _I fought hard for us, Mokuba. I'm sorry I failed you again._

"After the break, the court has made its decision regarding the custody for Mokuba Kaiba. And the court hereby announces that Mr Seto Kaiba, will –"

"STOP!"

Seto whipped his head around to the sound of that voice coming from the court's doorway. Forgetting for a while, that he was in the witness stand in a subordinate court, he jumped over the balustrades and sped to the origin of the voice. Reporters, lawyers, judges and members of the public alike witnessed as Seto Kaiba got to his knees and embraced Mokuba Kaiba who seemed to have flung himself into his brother's arms. For a moment, Seto was thankful that his brother's hair was in a disarray because it completely obscured his face.

"Seto, I'm so sorry I was gone for so long," Mokuba whispered, barely able to contain the tears from streaming down his face. "I'm so sorry, Seto. I miss you, Big Brother. I miss you so much."

"Me too, Mokuba," Seto whispered fiercely back. He sensed droplets raining on his brother's hair. "I was so afraid I'll never be able to see you again. It was so hard for me, Mokuba. Not to hear your voice, not to see your smile. If it had ended up like my dream back then, the dream that I told you about, I'll… I'll never forgive myself." He quickly pressed a hand to his temple, but at the same time wiping dry his eyes. He turned back to the board of judges and lawyers that were looking on. With newfound confidence, he said out loud in a challenging manner, "Doesn't the law dictate that the charge himself has a say of where he wants to go? The charge in question is here. I request for a last-minute appeal for Mokuba Kaiba to be brought to the witness stand."

Seto and Mokuba exchanged looks, and both gave each other a reassuring hand squeeze, smiles conveyed through their eyes. Then, Seto led Mokuba to the witness stand. With a flourish of confidence, he went up to the judge and requested politely, "Your Honour, I'd like to ask your permission to question Mokuba Kaiba. Perhaps then we will be able to come to a better idea of where the decision should be heading towards."

The judge remained silent. Then he spoke up, "Permission granted. Mr Niigata, you'll be allowed to question Mr Mokuba Kaiba first."

Seto froze as he stared at the judge in bewilderment.

* * *

**A/N P2: just some glossary to help you guys with cos i know the starting para is kinda "huh? what are they talking about?"**

**Arabic words** - English meaning

**shukran** - thank you

**sadiqati** - my friend

**afwan** - you're welcome

**na'am** - yes


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ignore my previous entry about chapter 9 being the second last chapter of this fic, cos i just changed my mind: this is the second last chapter of Dik. i couldn't resist lengthening this by one chapter. heheh. the initial part of this chapter might be a bit dry - court cases always are - so i hope you guys can bear with me for that long. **

**_flashbacks_ are in _bold italics_.**

**enjoy this chap yea (:**

* * *

Seto looked on helplessly as Mokuba was pounded with questions at a rate too fast for him to even think up of something to reply with. He had given up trying to persuade the court to object the way the DA was handling his brother, because every so often his objection was overruled. As he forced himself to sit still at the defense table, he channeled his energy to his mind to whir up with something, anything that could turn the tables round for one last time.

He glanced over to his brother again, and was quickly alerted by how Mokuba's eyes had gone wide, and the increased frequency of him looking around the courtroom. Seto bolted out of his seat and almost yelled at the judges, "Objection, Your Honour! Mr Niigata has terrified the witness too much to even allow the witness to speak!"

The DA smirked at him triumphantly, before turning to give the judge an apologetic look. "That's enough for me, Your Honour. I believe it is the defendant's turn to question the witness?"

Seto ignored the sneering DA as he proceeded to the front to where Mokuba was. He wanted so much to run up and comfort his brother, but there was no chance of him doing that right now. Not looking at his brother or even showing any sign of assurance to him, Seto launched into his own debate.

"Mr Mokuba, who has been the one to protect you throughout your whole life?" it hurt Seto to hear just how cold he sounded to his own brother.

Mokuba mumbled something which was audible only to himself, and Seto snapped, "Speak up, Mr Mokuba!"

"Seto!" Mokuba blurted out in shock.

"Has he done a good job of looking after you?" Seto queried on. "Has he provided you with shelter, food, education? Let you lead a proper life? Taught you the morals of life?"

"Y-Yes," Mokuba stammered. He watched his brother pacing back and forth in bewilderment. "Yes, he has."

"Would you mind explaining to the court in detail, Mr Mokuba?"

The black-haired boy went back to looking at his feet before he slowly spoke out, "S-Seto was always there from me, since the moment I was born. He had given up so much for me, sacrificing some things so that I could experience those things that he sacrificed. He has put his life on the line for me more times than I can ever imagine." A sniffle was heard. "Sometimes I feel that he's done too much for me but I don't deserve any of it. Sometimes I just want to believe that what people say are true, that I am a burden for my brother."

The whole court fell silent. Seto swallowed hard the lump forming in his throat_. So that was what Mokuba felt? Why didn't he tell me any of it?_ He cast a distasteful look at the DA's table before proceeding in the same, cold manner.

"Has he ever put your life in jeopardy, Mr Mokuba?" This time, Seto did focus his emotionless blue orbs on his brother. Deep down inside, his heart was aching. Mokuba looks so frightened…

Mokuba seemed unsure what to say. "He… Yes, he has," The crowd in the court room gasped. His voice went up by a notch as he belted out a defense for his brother. "But at the end of the day, he always risks his life to save mine! He always push me out of harm's way! He always finds a way to pull me back to safety!"

Seto waited for the noise to die down. Eventually, it did, albeit after some gravel-pounding by the judge who called for everyone to come to order. Even then, he heard a few distant expletives aimed at him from the back of the court room. He walked up casually towards the witness box, and carefully placed a hand on the railing. He kept his gaze straight at the crowd, "Tell us the truth, Mr Mokuba. Do you think your brother has justified his title as guardian all this while? Does he deserve it?"

"I don't want to have to go anywhere without you, Big Brother!" Mokuba pleaded through tears in the witness stand. He had enough of it. All he wanted right now was for them to pack up and go home.

Seto pretended not to notice his expression. He retorted sharply, "You're not answering my question, Mr Mokuba. Is your brother worthy to be your guardian?"

"Objection, Your Honour!" the DA had gotten to his feet, raising his hand high up in the air as if the judge would not have heard him through the silence. "Mr Kaiba is trying to influence the witness to agree with him!"

"Objection granted," the judge ruled. "Mr Kaiba, if there isn't anything left to question, could you kindly proceed back to your seat?"

"Yes, Your Honour," Seto restrained himself from spitting the words out as he strode back to his table. "I have asked all there is to be asked, Your Honour."

The DA gleefully got back into the spotlight. "Permission to question the witness again, Your Honour."

"Permission granted."

The DA smiled condescendingly at Mokuba. The younger Kaiba saw that it was supposed to mean: serves your brother right. In reply, he shot the DA a venomous look.

"Mr Mokuba, are you standing by Mr Kaiba all these years because he's your only living relative or because you felt that you owe whatever you have now to him?" The DA dropped the trick question. He smiled wider at the sight of Mokuba weighing out the answers. He knew that the correct answer was both; but what the heck. It felt great to see your enemies squirm. "Mr Mokuba, the court is waiting for your answer."

Seto closed his eyes and prepared himself for Mokuba's answer. For the first time, he felt trapped by his own game.

"Seto's my only family," Mokuba finally eked out his answer.

Seto shut his eyes tighter as he exhaled loudly. His game was over.

XO XO XO XO

Tea withdrew her hand from Yugi's and pried Joey's fingers from her arm and rubbed it quickly. His fingernails had probably made permanent indentations on her skin. In the limo on the way to the court, she had managed to contact Yugi and tell them about the wonderful news of Mokuba gaining consciousness and their new cause of panic which was Kaiba's ongoing custody case. Needless to say, her three friends had made their way to the court in a jiffy, arriving the same time that she did. That was precisely why her arm now bore marks of how tense the situation in the court was right now. But she could not complain about that; after all, what had her fingernails done to Yugi's hand? Tristan, meanwhile, had left his mark on the side of their bench.

"Can they hurry up and end the break already?" Joey whined out of exasperation. "People like us want to know the verdict, alright?"

"Shouldn't Kaiba be the one who's nervous about the verdict?" Tristan cut in. "I mean, what's with his look when Mokuba said that he stood by him because Kaiba's his only family?"

"Well, Mokuba can't say that he stood by Kaiba because he owes everything to him," Yugi commented, sounding and looking thoughtful. "That's low. Mokuba loves his brother. There's no chance for that."

"But why did Kaiba give that sort of reaction when Mokuba said what he said?" Tristan pressed on. Clearly, just like most of them, he was confused by the CEO's reaction.

Tea assessed the situation for a while. _Tristan's right. Why did Kaiba look as if he was prepared for defeat? That's unlike him, for one. But shouldn't he be pleased that Mokuba chose the first answer?_

Then it dawned on her. "Oh crap."

"What is it, Tea?" Yugi asked her, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Tea met their gazes. "Yeah. But Kaiba and Mokuba might not."

"Huh?"

"Firstly guys, tell me whether it's just me, but I think the DA's just out to get Kaiba," Tea started. She glanced expectantly at her friends, and they all admitted the same thought. "Okay. If my guess about the DA is right, the way he phrased his question… guys, if the court buys his bullshit, they will rescind Kaiba's responsibility over Mokuba."

Her friends caught on to where she was heading. "Cos when he asked Mokuba that question…" Yugi said slowly.

"He was implying that Mokuba had no choice but to stay with Kaiba because they're family, not because he wants to." Joey finished for him. He exchanged looks with his friends. "Tea's right. Holy shit. What has Kaiba gotten himself into?"

Tristan played the sceptic, "D'you seriously think the court will buy that load of rubbish?"

Joey stared at him in amazement. Lowering his voice, he said, "Tris, Kaiba always seem to be under the impression that you have more brains than I do. Have you seen how the court was with Kaiba?"

"Oh, right."

XO XO XO XO

Seto drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. One part of him wanted the verdict to quickly be passed – his head hurt, his body ached and he was craving for proper sleep. Sure, he managed to sneak in a few resting time when he was in Mokuba's ward. But between sifting through documents and staying by Mokuba's side for fear of him waking up, getting some shut-eye was the last thing on his mind. Not that he was used to getting more than five hours of sleep on a normal day, anyway.

Another part of him, on the other hand, was dreading the result. Seto Kaiba anxious about the result of his court case? The idea sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, but there was no denying it: he _was_ scared of it.

Unable to stand the tension any longer, he got up and briskly headed for the restroom. From the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of his brother on the bench a few rows behind him as he strode out of the court room. He felt so bad for making his brother fighting back his tears like that. He knew that Mokuba probably would not understand why he treated him so coldly just now, just moments after they were reunited in a warm embrace.

_I never wanted to do that, either,_ he thought contritely, splashing water onto his face after every sentence. _I never wanted to be a s.o.b to Mokuba. I never wanted to hurt him again. But I don't have a choice._

He rested his elbow on the sink and massaged his throbbing head gently. This whole custody case was a pain. _Just let Mokuba stay with me! He has been doing that all his life, I've been taking care of him all my life! We've been sticking by each other all the way in every single moment of our life…_

**_The gate to Pegasus's castle swung open and as he stood so casually at the entryway, his face lit up when he saw Mokuba running up to him. He knelt down and let his brother encircle him in a tight embrace before he slowly wrap his arms around his little brother._**

**_"Oh, Seto!. I didn't know what happened to you, but I never stopped thinking of you, big brother!" Mokuba sobbed into the front of Seto's shirt._**

**_Seto smiled as he smoothened out his brother's wild mane. "I know… I would have risked everything to save you, Mokuba._**

**_The two brothers pulled apart, and each held out the pendant hanging from their necks. Mokuba's held Seto's photo, and Seto's his. Mokuba looked up at him with smiling eyes, "Yugi told me you risked a lot, and now we're together again, Seto!"_**

**_They clicked close their pendant, and Seto clutched Mokuba's shoulders gently. He spoke in a soft voice, so unlike him, "So, whaddaya say, little brother? Ready for me to take you back home where we both belong?"_**

**_Mokuba leapt for joy as he shouted, "You bet!"_**

_Those were tough moments, but there were pleasant ones too, no matter how small it might have been,_ a small smile creeping onto his lips.

**_He was being nonchalant, as usual. His mind was set on Dartz and his cronies. Never mind the_ _fact that he was quite intrigued by Critias. He turned to look at his brother as he asked, "Did you notice anything strange, Mokuba?"_**

_**Mokuba stared back at him. "Other than the way you're acting?"**_

_**Seto quickly shifted his gaze as he sighed, "Never mind."**_

Seto chuckled as he lifted himself up and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked bad. He was well-aware of the large dark circles under his eyes – the main reason he uncharacteristically wore his Ray-Bans today. As he peered at his image closer, he noticed the weary skin on his face, the deepening frown and the almost lifeless eyes. He heaved a huge sigh. Now he really looked as if he had aged ten years.

He glanced at his watch. By the time he reached his table, the time would have come. As he pushed open the door of the restroom, he willed himself to take whatever that was coming his way head on. _Whatever the result is, I'll accept it. And if it doesn't go my way, I'll come up with something so Mokuba will remain with me._

XO XO XO XO

Yugi patted Mokuba's shoulder reassuringly. The younger Kaiba was still recovering from the shock of the trial. Tristan and Joey were seated around him, as was Tea.

"Y'know, Big Brother had always wanted to change for the better," Mokuba commented. The randomness of his confession threw his friends off. "He kept promising me. But everytime he wants to do that, something crops up and he just forgets all about it. He kept saying that he could not afford to change and has to get back to his old instincts. Everytime it's near my birthday or Christmas, he'll get me whatever I wanted. But all I really want is my old brother back. I thought that when I woke up, I'll get to see the old smiling Seto again."

Joey tried to sound thoughtful, "That's true. He rarely smiles. Make that never." Tea promptly pinched his arm and shot him a look.

Yugi racked his brain for some comforting words. Now he knew why Mokuba was so distraught. It was less of the possibility of him losing his brother and more of, well, his brother. At least one piece of the fact did not change: the matter at hand was still about Kaiba.

Tristan unsuspectingly provided the solution. He slung a hand over the smaller boy's shoulder and tried to sound relaxed about the whole deal, "Don't worry, Moku-man. I'm sure Kaiba has some plan. He'd never hurt you. You should see him when he was first called up to the hospital. He was beyond scary. His rage was like, hitting level 9000 and still going. That's how much he cares for you, kiddo."

Mokuba lifted his head hopefully. "Really?"

This time round, the rest of the gang had eagerly plastered smiles onto their faces. Joey was beaming and nodding like a know-it-all. "Yups, three-quarters of the time, he never left you. That one quarter was because we sort of shooed him out to do things to sustain himself. I'm surprised he didn't forget to breathe."

The younger Kaiba seemed at ease with their words. He remarked happily as he wiped his eyes with his palm, "Alright, I trust you guys. But still, it'll be nice if Seto could really change."

Joey let out a short laugh. "If that happens, Mokuba, tell me. I'd love to pound Kaiba. Mutt, eh? I'll show it to him."

"Remind me to get an ambulance for you on stand-by when you do that," Mokuba grinned.


	11. Finale

**A/N: as much as i hate to say it, this is the final chapter of this fic. (sobs) **

**anw, thanks a lot to everyone who has been reading this fic faithfully, especially MythCreatorWriter. thanks also to everyone who has put this fic on alerts and placed in reviews. the success of this fic is nothing without you guys.**

**as my parting gift in Dik, this is the last chapter. enjoy (:**

* * *

**When you're awake and asleep**

**In all your dreams and reality**

**I'll always care for you**

**You'll always protect me**

**With your life and death**

**Never, I never want you to fall apart**

**- Dik by Wali Band**

Everyone scrambled to get back to their seats. Just as the last person lowered herself on the bench, the judge walked in. He surveyed the court crowd, and once he was satisfied, gathered his robes and sat at the high seat. The court secretary handed a thin file to him, and after a gracious nod from the judge, returned to his seat.

Seto gripped the railing tightly. He braved himself to look at the judge in the eye, his back ramrod straight. He kept his face devoid of expression, but any onlooker could see that the KaibaCorp CEO was nervous. Not that any of them would admit to noticing that. There was something about Seto Kaiba that got everyone to view him as coolheaded in the face of danger although they knew he was not.

The DA was smugly leaning back in his seat. He darted his eyes over to Seto. _Serves you right, you arrogant prick. Somebody ought to bring you down, and how lucky. That person turned out to be me. Bringing you down, and elevating my own status. Killing two birds with one tiny pebble. And the catapult? That kid Mokuba._

Mokuba shifted his gaze to from Tea to Yugi, who were seated on opposite sides of him. They both glanced down and gave him a smile. A reassuring hand squeeze from each of them reassured him that everything would turn out alright. Mokuba tried to relax and smile, but found that he could not. He glanced over at his brother on the witness stand. There was no sign of haughtiness etched on Seto's face, a common trait if his brother knew that he was going to win.

"After much discussion," the judge started the reading of the long-awaited verdict. "The court has reached a conclusion regarding the verdict. After hearing from all sides involved, and studying the evidences that were presented to the court, the Domino City Subordinate Court has agreed to hand over custody of Mokuba Kaiba to…"

The entire court room shushed as everyone waited for the name with bated breath. Seto's fingers almost dug holes in the railings. The DA was adjusting his tie and brushing off non-existent lint from his suit. Even without looking in his direction, Seto knew the DA was throwing him a sly smile.

"Seto Kaiba!"

Seto's head shot up. Had he heard the judge wrongly? The judge's announcement was received by a mixture of applause and jeers from the crowd. Seto looked around, shellshocked. The dorks and Mokuba were practically jumping on their bench, clapping wildly and cheering for him. He glanced back. The police had signaled for him to make his way down the witness stand. Seto complied by staggering down the steps.

"Big Brother!"

Seto could only kneel down as Mokuba made his way over to him as fast as he could with Tea's and Yugi's help through the thinning crowd. _Mokuba had still not recovered fully,_ he noted absently as he stretched his arms out to await his brother's embrace. The moment Mokuba was standing directly in front of Seto, Tea and Yugi let go and took a few steps back to allow the brothers some privacy.

"Mokuba," Seto spoke softly as he encircled his brother's small physique. Unwittingly, his lips broke out into a small smile, tears welling up in his blue eyes. "I thought I was gonna lose you twice in one go."

Mokuba clung onto Seto's neck as he sobbed, "I heard you all the while, Big Brother. I wanted to tell you that it's okay and I'll be fine, but somehow I just couldn't."

Seto cupped his brother's face, still smiling as he said indignantly, "It's alright, Mokuba. I know."

The black-haired Kaiba leant it to hug his brother more tightly, a grin so wide adorning his face that it made his brother chuckle softly. "I miss you so much, Big Brother. And I'm so glad I got my wish."

Seto frowned as he asked, confused, "Your wish?"

"Yups! I wished that the moment I wake up, I would see you smile. Just like this!" Mokuba exclaimed, tapping his brother's cheek lightly.

To his surprise, Seto laughed quietly. "Alright, chipmunk. Let's get you back to the hospital. Somehow, I get the feeling that you ran away from there rather than file a proper discharge."

"You laughed!" Mokuba chattered away as Seto put back his Ray-Bans on and led him out of the court room by the hand. "This is awesome! I only wished for you to smile and I got a bonus! So does this mean that I can ask you for that new board game that I saw at Yugi's grandpa's shop?"

"Don't push it."

XO XO XO XO

A few days later…

Seto opened his eye slightly and groaned as bright light almost blinded him. He shut his eyes again and rolled over onto the other side of his bed, away from the light. The unoccupied end of the bed bounced and Seto found his shoulders being shaken rigorously.

"Come on, Seto! Wake up!"

Seto groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "Do you know how many days I haven't slept?"

Mokuba was insistent. "Nooo! Come on bro! Get up!"

"You can't make me," Seto growled from under the covers.

"Yes. I. Can!" Mokuba yelled out in reply, pulling the covers away from his brother. He put his mouth directly above Seto's ears. "WAKE UP!"

That did the trick. Seto bolted up from bed and wrapped an arm around Mokuba's neck, wrestling him onto the bed. Mokuba screamed in mock pain, and soon the Kaiba brothers found themselves laughing side by side on the bed. Mokuba peeked a glance at Seto; he had never seen his brother so relaxed and carefree in a long time.

"Come on, let's get breakfast!" Mokuba announced, grabbing Seto by a hand out of bed. His older brother made no effort to object and trailed out of the room after his brother. "Nana told me today she's making pancakes! She made an 14 inch one for me, y'know! I'm gonna ask her to make a 19 inch – no, wait, a 20 inch – one for you, alright?"

Seto seemed mortified. "14 inch and 20 inch pancakes?"

Mokuba beamed. "Yups, in accordance to our age! But I aged you by one year to make it 20! Just giving you credit as the adult around here!"

Seto shook his head in disbelief. He did sit through and surprisingly finished his 20 inch pancake. Over coffee (milk for Mokuba), the conversation took a heavier end. While sipping his milk, Mokuba asked suddenly, "Seto, why were you so cold during the trial?"

His older brother slowly set his coffee down and gazed at Mokuba. He took a deep breath before trying to explain to the 14-year-old, "I had to be impartial. I couldn't give the court or that stupid DA a chance to say that I'm trying to appease you to side with me." Mokuba's stare told him he had to try harder. Seto sighed as he admitted, "Fine. It was my first time as a lawyer, and I just thought that maybe…"

Mokuba remained silent as he finished up his milk. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Mokuba slowly looked up to meet his brother's gaze. Seto's coffee had remained untouched since just now, and his brother was looking pretty uncomfortable.

"Seto?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to change?"

Seto met his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"Are you going to change for real? And not just promise that you'll change?" Mokuba's voice sounded a cross between hopeful and dismayed.

Seto became pensive. Deep down inside, he wanted to. But reality meant that there was no chance of that ever happening. He stared back into Mokuba's pleading eyes. _Maybe I could try,_ he added on gruffly. _For Mokuba's sake._

XO XO XO XO

"Hey Yug!" Joey breezed into the game shop. He waved a relatively large box in his hand – a gift, presumably – but he looked pissed. "Look at what I – whoooaaaa! Isn't that one of moneybags's new toy? The Duel Disk Watch or something? I thought it's still not out in stores?"

Yugi beamed as he held his wrist up. The watch looked pretty neat, and it entailed his character perfectly: physically harmless but once challenged, deadly. KaibaCorp had came out with 4 official colours for the DDW: blue, black, silver and green. The one adorning Yugi's wrist was personalized: black leather with metal studs. it even had YM engraved on the watch's face.

"Yups," Yugi confirmed Joey's suspicion. "Kaiba and Mokuba dropped by the shop just now and Kaiba passed it to me. He told me it was one of a kind cos he wanted to show respect to a fellow duelist."

The door to the game shop tinkled open and Tristan yelled out from the door, "Hey guys! Check out what Kaiba gave me!"

Tristan held up a gleaming new motorcycle helmet. Yugi and Joey stared at him expectantly. Catching their confused look, Tristan smiled smugly and began to explain, "He told me it was KaibaCorp new technology stuff, but they won't be releasing it until they installed a game component inside. But guess what? It had built in GPS inside of it. All I have to do is click this button at the side, put down the visor and I have the map of the entire world."

Joey let out an anguished scream as he slammed his box on the countertop. He chucked off the top and held out a 7cm by 4cm manila card which contained only 5 letters: _Thx. SK_. Yugi and Tristan stifled a laugh.

"That stupid Kaiba," Joey seethed as he tossed the card back inside. "I open up the mailbox today, saw this stupid box and that's all I got!"

Yugi and Tristan seemed surprised. Yugi stopped admiring his new toy and looked questioningly at his best friend. "It was in your mailbox?"

"Yeah," Joey replied. Then suddenly he understood his friends' shocked reaction. "He didn't personally gave you guys those stuffs, right?" He recalled what Yugi had said earlier. "Arghh!! He did! And he chucked mine in a mailbox?"

Tristan rubbed more salt into the wound. "Well, yours was just a piece of paper. But you mean, that's all you got? You didn't get a VIP ticket to KaibaLand's new ride, Dragon's Lair?"

"SAY WHAT?!"

Yugi nodded as he held his ticket up. "Yeah. Kaiba said it's a brand new ride, and the opening for VIPs is this Sunday. There's gonna be actual dragons – as in, robots, but you catch my drift. He did away with holograms. He even placed Red Eyes as one of the first few dragons."

Joey clenched his fists and started shouting at a newspaper that was lying on the countertop. Incidentally, the front page was about the ride. "Damn you Kaiba! When I see you in school – oh wait, you don't have to go to school anymore! Arghh!! I am definitely gonna whack your sorry ass! You put in my dragon and ditched the owner!"

He felt a light tap on his shoulder, but shrugged it off as he continued cursing, "The moment I hang you upside down from the lamp post, I am gonna gather all the basketball teams in Domino and have them pound you with the balls. And you're gonna hang there for a week!"

"Uhh, Joey," Yugi said more loudly this time round. He slid a ticket in front of his friend's face. "I found this taped below your box."

"Huh?" Joey grabbed the ticket and examined it closely. He held it close to his eye, and then up in the light. He even turned the ticket round in his hand. "It's real."

Tristan sighed. "Yes, it is. And he did give it to you, you dimwit. It even had your name on it. If only you had – aaah!"

Yugi laughed as Joey pounced onto Tristan and the two of them rolled out a mini wrestling match on the floor. Some things never change.

XO XO XO XO

Tea glanced around the café and checked her watch. She frowned. Was it possible that she was the early one? But her watch already showed that it was fifteen minutes past the meeting time. Wondering about the whereabouts of the other party, she seated herself at the appointed far corner of the al fresco section of the café. It was the best seat; private, and overlooking the sea. The sea breeze blowing in was definitely something to revel in.

"Been waiting long, Gardner?" the bored voice woke her from her stupor.

Tea looked up to see Seto peering down at her. She blinked at his choice of attire; she was so accustomed to seeing him in his suits and coats that the sight of the CEO dressed in a sea blue football jersey and well-cut jeans was too much for her to fathom. He caught her gaze, looked down at his shirt and said blandly, "Required attire for something that Mokuba planned."

"Really," she said disbelievingly. Then she perked up. "Oh yes, how's Mokuba? He's not here with you?"

Seto took a seat opposite her and settled into his customary business seating pose of crossing his legs. "He's better," he raked a stray hair back. The breeze was unsettling his hair. "He was, but I dropped him off first. Said he has some stuffs to get ready."

Tea half-smiled as she gestured as his attire. "I suppose it has something to do with that?"

"Yeah," Seto gave a small smile as he looked out into the sea. "Kid wants to play football. After everything, why not? Besides, he put in so much effort into planning the whole thing." He glanced over at her and smirked. "Bet you can't imagine me running around on the field, can you?"

Tea's smile widened as she shook her head. "To be honest, no," she admitted. "What made you want to meet me here?"

Seto pulled a well-wrapped box from somewhere (he had it in his hand, but Tea was too taken aback by his clothes to notice). Tea's eyes widened as he slid it over to her. The gift was encased in an oblong box, and wrapped with black jacquard.

"For you," he said it casually. "You've done a lot. Looked after Mokuba, stayed by him." He grudgingly added, "Looked out for me. Assisted in the case."

Tea's fingers closed over the box, and she firmly slid it back to Seto. "I can't take this. I did what I did because… I thought we're friends."

Seto stood up and turned to walk away. Before he did that, he looked over his shoulder and said, "Don't decline it. Your friends accepted theirs graciously. Besides, you deserved it more than them."

"Friends don't do things to get back favours," she argued from her seat.

Seto snorted. "You're a good person, Tea. Don't waste your friendship on a person like me."

"Kaiba!" Tea called out, but he had already moved away, parting with a mock salute in her direction.

Tea sighed as she brought the gift closer to her. Gingerly, she undid the silver ribbon, and the black jacquard fell open to reveal a carved oblong box, with small butterflies painted at the edges. She lifted the lid. Resting in the cushion were two pieces of paper. She picked the folded one out and unfolded it.

"_Gardner, thanks for everything. And in case you're wondering what the box is, it's a pencil box that Mokuba found at a shop. He chose it, so in short, it's his gift. I only gave you the ticket. Don't lose it. See you and the dorks there. – Seto Kaiba_"

She had to smile at his words. Clearly, Kaiba had a long way to go if he was to change like Mokuba wanted him to.

* * *

**i know i know. it's supposed to be The End. but (scratches hand) itchy fingers and the fact that i like this fic (fine... Seto) tells me that i'll be coming up with something soon. do you guys want a spin-off of this fic, or a completely unrelated one?**


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